


Strife of the Trickster

by Orange_Hollow



Series: On The Wings of Dragons [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe, BAMF Loki, BAMF Tony, Bonding, Demons, Dragons, Explicit Sexual Content, Friendship, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mama Loki, Muspelheim, Muspelheim - Freeform, Mutual Pining, Non-human!Tony, Odin's A+ Parenting, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Loki, Romance, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Soul Bond, Tiny little kitty dragons, UST, Unreliable Narrator, Well more like magical bonding, Wings, Worldbuilding, drakes, fire giants - Freeform, long fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-09
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-05-12 18:43:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 47,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5676580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orange_Hollow/pseuds/Orange_Hollow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Thor fails a task Odin had set for him, Loki sees an opportunity to prove that he is right for the throne. Alone, he travels to Muspelheim, a dangerous realm not well known, inhabited by fire giants and the eldnar, a young, uncivilized race who have somehow acquired an ancient weapon, The Warlock's Eye. All he needs to do, is locate and collect the Eye. </p>
<p>Simple.</p>
<p>---<br/> </p>
<p>This is a long, story driven fic, with a lot worldbuilding, lore, secrets and reveals. This is the first part of a trilogy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> A huuuge thanks goes to my husband who is pretty much co-writing this with me (Seriously best beta ever). My keyboard is slightly broken (or my house is haunted by a ghost with a strange obsession with the letter g) so there might be an extra 'g' here or there. We did our best to catch those.
> 
> That said, all spelling mistakes are mine, feed back is always welcome and well... Enjoy!

A heavy silence filled the halls of Asgard as Prince Thor and his warriors approached the throne. Their faces were solemn, eyes downcast. Loki could tell from their grim postures that they had failed in their task.

"Father", the thunderer started, not looking at their king. "We have failed at locating the Warlock's Eye. None could reveal to us the location of the artifact. We scoured the realm, but alas... I have failed you and brought di-" The all-father raised his hand to silence the crown prince.

"Raise your heads", his voice boomed over them. "'tis fine my son. When I sent you, I knew the task was nigh impossible."

Loki shook his head and quietly exited the grand hall. Of course Thor got away with a failure. It wasn't surprising to see him return empty handed, since the task needed brains more than brawn. The Trickster did not understand why he hadn't been sent instead. If it was him, he surely would have found the hidden artifact in no time. He would have made his father proud. He would have... 

He could. 

It was a mad idea and he shouldn't even consider it, but still, once Loki got something in his head, it was hard for him to let it go.

If he did this, if he managed a task that Thor couldn't finish, maybe, for the first time in the one thousand years of his life, the all-father would see Loki behind Thor's shadow. Would see that Thor wasn't better than Loki at everything. Maybe he would delay Thor's coronation that was set to happen in 40 years time...

If he stopped the coronation, Asgard wouldn't be doomed to Thor's idiotic rule. 

All he had to do, was discredit his older brother. It wasn't to bring shame to Thor, it was for the good of Asgard. If the All-Father saw him retrieve an item that the crown prince hadn't found with four of Asgard's greatest by his side, it would become clear he wasn't ready to become a king yet.

And if for once, their father would look at him with that same pride Thor received nearly daily, well, that didn't sound so bad. 

With that in mind, Loki started to prepare. This would not be an easy journey. He was going to travel to Muspelheim, a realm embellished by fire and stone. No sane Aesir traveled to that barren waste. 

He had some planning to do.

And he needed to come up with an excuse for his mother...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author notes:
> 
> \- Warlock's Eye is a real weapon in the comics, however I'm most likely taking a lot of freedoms with it, considering this wikipedia page is all I know about it: http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Warlock’s_Eye


	2. Chapter 1

Loki's first impression of Muspelheim was that everything was hot. The heat hit him in the gut, feeling like it was setting his very soul on fire. Casting his most powerful cooling spell over himself, he took in his surroundings. 

Currently all he could see was red sand, black stone, and rivers of lava. All around him were tall mountains with sharp peaks. There was no sign of any of the creatures that called this infernal realm their home.

He would have preferred to land somewhere closer to one of the towns, but the branches of yggdrasil were not many around here and he couldn't ask Heimdall to get him there without arousing suspicion. Now, he needed to figure out where he was and how to find one of these towns he'd heard about. 

Loki didn't know much of the Eldnar or their 'culture'. No one did. They were very hostile against strangers and kept to their towns. All he knew was that they used to only have small un-civiliced tribes until someone called Ratheas the Harbinger. He used the power of the Warlock's eye to unite the people and now they apparently lived underground like the dwarves of Nidavellir. 

So his first task was to figure out the location of the closest town or city. Also he needed to figure out how to go about finding information about the Warlock's eye. It was reasonable to assume, but impossible to know if Ratheas or his decendants still had it. So, he needed to figure out if he was still alive, if he wasn't, whether or not he had decendants. But before any of that, he needed to get out of the open where he was likely to fall prey to any of the beasts roaming the waste.

_______

After two days of walking, he finally made it to the closest mountain and camped in its shade. He still had yet to see anything or anyone and was starting to think the realm was empty. Just in case, he had altered his looks a little to better fit the Eldnar.

He now had Dark grey horns growing from his forehead, curving back along his head and pointy ears like those of elves, albeit bigger. His clothes were simple black leather, hopefully something that didn't stand out too much here. 

That was what the Eldnar looked like in the few pictures in the libraries of Asgard. Of course, those books were very old and likely outdated. Some of the pictures gave the Eldnar lizard like tails, talons and drake wings, while others didn't. He opted to go without those for now, deciding that when he encountered people he could shift his looks to better suit the locals. 

If he ever encountered anyone.

A faint crackling sound attracted his attention and withdrew him from his musings. Slowly, with his daggers raised, the Liesmith rounded a nearby rock to see an egg the size of his head lying discarded on the ground. Looking arouond he couldn't see any more, nor anything resembling a nest. Either someone had dropped it there or it had rolled down the mountain. Looking up he couldn't see anything. At least that meant he wouldn't be attacked by an angry mother...

The crackling sound broke the air again and Loki realized the egg was hatching. Swiftly he kneeled next to it, having no idea what sort of creature would be hatching from it, but knowing it was an innocent infant and would most likely need help. In his mind he cursed the Norns for sending a distraction as he waited patiently for the egg to fully hatch. 

A small scaly snout pierced the shell. So some kind of lizard or drake creature. Two small clawed hands started pushing the shell around the snout to reveal a green head. The head was followed by shoulders, body, tail... Two blue eyes blinked up at Loki and for a second he was frozen, unsure what to do. The little creature let out a yip and shuffled closer to him on unsure feet.

"Little child, I am not your mother", he said gently. He knew many cratures that hatched from eggs imprinted on the first living thing they saw. However, he couldn't just leave the... Drake?

It was many different shades of green, with tiny horns on its head and nubs on its back that would probably grow into wings when it was older. It had a tail the length of its body and tiny claws like knives.

It shuffled closer still, unbalanced because of its large back legs and small front legs. Or arms, Loki wasn't sure. It looked like it would walk on two legs when it was an adult.

"Oh but you are adorable", loki mumbled reaching one hand forward. The drake baby yipped happily and sniffed his hand, pushing against it, seeking his heat or possibly food. It was warm, still a bit slimy from the egg. "Very well, I shall keep you until I can find someone who can care for you better. You need a name if you are going to travel with me..."

Loki looked the creature over, but unfamiliar with the species as he was, couldn't figure out if it was male or female.

"I shall call you... Aven." 

Aven yipped again and looked at Loki expectantly. Ah, food then. Chuckling Loki produced some meat from his travel bag and cut a small piece out of it. Aven took it and swallowed it, yipping for more. Loki smiled and fed the baby more, spending the next hour or so just feeding his new hatchling.

___________

With Aven tucked inside his tunik Loki continued his travels the next day. All he saw was more black stone, red sand and lava. It seemed that was all this cursed planet had. No plants or anyhitng living in sight. The ground was very uneven and hard to travel, canyons and rivers of lava everywhere. Slowly Loki advanced, looking for signs of anything living and only stopping for quick rests and to feed Aven.

On the fourth day he finally saw signs of something living. Next to a big boulder there was a gutted body of some sort of animal. It looked like it had been some sort large reptilian, but now it was mostly skin and bones. Cut with a knife, tough hide, who ever killed it possessed tremendous strength-

Loki teleported in time so that the axe that was about to split him open only sliced through his after image. The fire giant that had swung at him roared in anger. Where had it come from? It made no noise as it moved even though it was so huge. Loki's head didn't even reach it's knee.

"Come back here little imp", it yelled, scanning the area. It smirked when it saw Loki, black eyes gleaming in delight. "Good. That asathi didn't quite fill me."

A bit stunned at how articulate the giant was, Loki pulled out his knives, even though he wasn't sure how to fight his adversary. It's red and black skin looked tough and it was mostly on fire. Curse this realm and all the fire in it... Aven made a little chirp inside his blouse drawing the giants attention. 

"And you brought me dessert too", it said smirking.

A beat of wings sounded somewhere over them and the giant yelled angrily, probably thinking Loki wasn't alone. Neither had any chance to further react before the fire in it's body just... Died out.

Loki was forced to teleport again as the giant's dead body fell forward, threatening to crush him. 

"Thank's for the diversion", a masculine voice called out and Loki realized there was someone on the giant's neck, pulling a spear out of it with a sticky, wet sound.

At first all he saw was a pair of leathery, dark brown wings spread to full length. They were almost black along the bones with bright red leather inbetween. The man also had a long tail, reminding Loki of Aven, that was brown leather with red ridges and small specks of gold. So the paintings were correct. However, before Loki could add a tail and wings to his disguise, the man turned around giving him an amused smirk very similar to the fire giant's. Though his was marginally less predatory.

"Well, you're not from this realm", the man remarked, looking over Loki and nodding in appreciation. His hair was brown and tied behind his head. At first Loki almost missed the horns, for they were almost the same color as the Eldun's hair, just slightly darker. They started on top of the man's temples, curved backwards and around his ears then turned down with the tips pointed towards the shoulders. His ears were long and slim, nestled on the inside curve of his horns. He had a finely shaved beard that was the same color as his hair. He was... handsome. And he obviously knew it.

"You could say that yes", Loki said adopting a charming smile, doing his damnest to hide his pleasant surprise at finding non-threatening, sentient life. This made the man smile even more as he leapt from the corpse of the giant. When he was on the ground his wings folded behind him and seemed to melt on to his back until they were completely gone. 

"I'm Tony", the stranger said, stopping in front of Loki. Tony. That was an unusual yet strangely fitting name. 

"I am Lucan."

"Lucan...", Tony mulled the name over then smiled again. "All right Lucan, nice to meet you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's notes:
> 
> \- Aven's name comes from aventurine, a form of quartz. It's most common color is green, but can also be orange, brown, yellow, blue, or gray. The name aventurine derives from the Italian "a ventura" meaning "by chance". (Wikipedia)
> 
> -Just to make sure, Eldnar (singular Eldun) is a species I came up with myself and cannot (as far as I know) be found in canon. This fic will contain a lot of worldbuilding, around them and Muspelheim.


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello! Would people prefer the length of this chapter and have me post ever other day, or longer chapters and maybe once/ twice a week? 
> 
> Also, this thing is going to very long. With the length of this chapter, I'm estimating about 20 chapters (Unless chapters get too long, then more) And also this is just the first story in the series. I have at least two more stories planned after this. 
> 
> The amount of worldbuilding and research me and my husband have done for this is insane. We have something like 15 double sided papers full of information about the animals, culture, plants (yes there will be plants), people cities etc.
> 
> With that, I really have to give a huge thanks to my husband who is doing this with me even though he doesn't even read fanfiction. (btw he votes for shorter chapters lol)
> 
> I would also like to thank anyone who has read this so far and given a kudos. It really warms my heart :) Feel free to give feedback or ask questions if you want to know something.

"So, what brings you to the always sunny Muspel", Tony asked in a well acted voice, spreading his hands like a show man introducing the main act. His whole being really gave off that aura. Someone who was used to being the center of attention and wouldn't have it any other way. "I mean, I'm not trying to say that this is the worst place to travel to, but not that many people bother with the trip."

Loki had already come up with an excuse that would let him do all the research he needed without being too far from the truth. Best lies were always based on some semblance of truth. 

"I am here to study magic", he explained to the Eldun. "I am a scholar, always interested in different kinds of magics. I have traveled to most of the other realms and Muspelheim was next on my list."

Tony was nodding along with his words. He seemed a bit suspicious, who wouldn't, but seemed to accept that Loki wasn't a threat for now.

"And where were you going?" he asked and walked past Loki to- oh, where had that drake come from? Behind Loki was a drake, bigger than a horse, red with an orange stomach and yellow feathers on its wings, head, legs, arms and on the tip of its tail. It had large back legs and small arms that made the sorcerer wonder if Aven was the same species as this one. Tony's drake, for it certainly belonged to the man and seemed to have a saddle and bags on its back, was absolutely stunning. The light from the sun and nearby rivers of lava were shining off of it's feathers and scales. The blue eyes were looking at Loki with a dim amusement that seemed to have some level of intelligence.

A whistling sound drew Loki's attention back to Tony who was chuckling lowly and waving his hand in front of Loki. Had he a lesser control over his face and emotions he would have blushed.

"This is Becu. I'm guessing he's the first Sahali you've seen", Tony said with a clear amusement.

"Possibly", Loki answered debating whether or not he should show Aven to the other man. Surely Tony would better know how to take care of the babe, but... Loki dreaded the thought of parting with it. He had come to care for the creature that had been his sole companion for the last few days.

Aven made the choice for him, chirping a bit and pushing it's head out from the collar of Loki's shirt. Tony made a happy cooing noise and extended his hand, stopping to look at Loki for permission to touch the little drake. Slowly he brought his hand for Aven to sniff, but the hatchling pulled it's head back a bit, burrowing under Loki's chin.

"Oh she's shy", Tony exclaimed happily.

"She? I was not... I was not sure", Loki confessed and tried to look down at Aven who was now clambering to get to his shoulder. "I found her egg a few days ago. I could not just leave her, but I have not seen her kind before. Is she also a... sahali?"

A warm smile spread on Tony's lips. Huh, so he liked it when people showed kindness towards these drakes. Loki could easily use that.

"She's a hasit. Hasit are much smaller than sahali. She will most likely grow up to your waist. Good find, they are really loyal, especially when raised from a baby", Tony said leaning forward to look at Aven closer, though kept his hands to himself.

"How do you know she is female?" Loki asked and petted Aven who had managed to get all the way to his shoulder and was now staring at Tony's drake with the fear and wonder of a new born creature. She seemed to be ignoring Tony who was really close to Loki now. 

"Males are usually at least two different colors", the eldun said straitening and glancing back at his drake. The sahali was looking at the baby, turning its head from side to side. "See Becu here is red, yellow and orange, where as your hasit is pretty much just green."

Becu took a step closer and extended its head towards Loki and his shoulder percher, but Tony pushed his head away.

"Come on now B, don't scare the baby", he chastised gently. Becu hissed and turned around, walking instead towards the carcass that had been the giants meal. "Does your baby have a name yet?"

"Aven", the Aesir informed with a light smile on his lips. Aven chirped in response to her name. That just made Loki smile even more. No, he wouldn't be able to give the little one away. Tony hummed and nodded, seemingly liking the name. 

"So, you never answered me. Where are you going?" Tony asked looking at Loki with intrest. Good, he was most likely to help if he was interested in Loki in some capacity.

"I must be honest with you, I do not know where I am. I came somewhat under prepared and do not know where to go. I just want to find a town where I could start the study of magics of this realm", Loki confessed, looking down and did his best to look like a lost little lamb. Tony chuckled and made the blade in his spear retract. Good. Also fascinating, the spear seemed to fold in on itself until it was just the length of a forearm. This realm had so many fascinating things.

Tony whistled for Becu to return to him and pulled a map from one of the saddle bags. He spread it open and showed it to Loki who did his best to remember everything he saw. He had no way of knowing where on the map they were and the map itself wasn't very complicated, but useful none the less. The surpising feature was that the parchment used was a black fabric and the ink used was an incadesent white. 

To the north there was a big marker that said Red Water. Possibly a big town or keep. Other marked towns going south were: Paesmouth, Burafirth, Gilderan, Damos, Mournstead, Taed Morden, Rathanian, Larcbost and The Last Keep. In the east, just south of Burafirth was a large area just labeled The Lost, in the south there was what must have been a lake of lava called Demon's Rest. There was also multiple small crosses that might have been towns too small or insignificant to name. And mountains. There were at least a hundred unnamed mountains.

"We are currently here", Tony said tapping his finger on down on the east side of The Lost, little bit south of Damos. "I'm on my way to Taed Morden" -south east corner of The Lost- "There is a good sized library and a keep there. You can come with me if you want."

Loki hummed as if he was mulling it over. There was no question to him, he was going to go with the Eldun. It was his best chance to get inside any town and learn about this realm. 

"Considering I had no destination, Taed Morden sounds as good a place as any.", he said pretending to have come to a conclusion.

"Blazing", Tony exclaimed happily and rolled the map away. Loki wanted to protest that he wanted to look at the map more, but said nothing. "Though you might want to add a tail you know. Makes it more believable and easier blend in."

The man even winked at him and Loki forced his face to stay impassive as he altered his disguise to include a gray tail with green ridges. He made his tail a bit slimmer than Tony's, since that seemed like it would fit him better. He also made it slightly longer than the Eldun's so that his tail properly touched the ground where as the other man's tail rested a thumb's width from the ground.

"Better?" he asked with an impassive tone. Tony chuckled and tilted his head to the side and eyeing Loki with an appreciative look on his face.

"It shall do", he said with a lewd smirk, obviosly thinking of something he wasn't saying out loud. "Now, B is strong enough to carry us both. It will take maybe two nights to reach Taed Morden and we'll have to stop once a day and for the night to let Becu rest. Does that sound good to you?"

Becu made a noise and nipped at Tony's hair, causing the man to yelp and jump away from the sahali. Loki couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips. The two made a rather amusing sight.

"Oi stop that ya big beast", Tony said and frowned at Becu. "We're not going to exhaust you don't worry. I already promised you cinder berries when we get back home. How about you also get Tsy'lta cake?"

Becu warbled happily, a weird sound coming from something so big. Satisfied that the mutiny was over, Tony clicked his tongue and Becu leaned down, letting Tony mount. 

Loki looked over at his disguise again. His clothes largely matched Tony's, with the exception that Tony had red and golden colors in his clothes. Vaguely he wondered if Tony had chosen Becu to fit his own colors or if it had been a coincidende. He added a little bit of green to his clothes and looked over to the dead giant. Was it fine to just leave it there?

"We can just leave that. Some Asathi should come down from the mountains and eat it soon enough", Tony said steering Becu closer to Loki and extending his hand. The Aesir nodded and took the hand, pulling himself on top of the sahali to sit behind Tony. At first, Loki was a bit afraid he was going to sit on the eldun's tail, but the man moved it aside easily. Aven dived back inside Loki's shirt, most likely going to sleep again. "If you feel like you're going to fall, feel free to hold on to me."

Seemingly without a sign Becu took off towards one of the mountains south of them. He was much faster than any horse Loki had ever ridden, using his wings to leap over rivers of lava and the cracks in the ground. Wrapping his arms around Tony seemed like a good idea to further gain his trust, so Loki did just that.

______

They ran like that for hours. They didn't speak, the wind made it impossible and Tony was focused on controlling the sahali they were riding. At least, Loki assumed he was controlling the beast. Loki focused on clumsily feeding Aven who was happily chirping between their bodies, only occasionally lifting his head to look at the world around them. 

The Lost must have been some sort of waste land. Loki refused to believe the whole of the planet would be as barren as what they were currently seeing. As the day went on, Becu started to run slower and slower until they were trotting at a pleasant pace and the wind wasn't beating on the anymore.

"B is starting to get tired, we'll have to take a break soon", Tony pointed out the obvious from in front of him. "And I really need to take a leak."

Loki chuckled and shook his head. Tony steered the sahali off to the left, and stopped them in the middle of a grouping of rocks. Smart, in here they were hidden from sight. Tony hopped off and after cracking his back raised his hand to help Loki down. He didn't actually need it in any way, but took the hand none the less. Tony looked like he wanted to say something, but instead just smirked and shook his head. He turned to Becu's saddle bags and pulled out something wrapped in some sort of black parchment. It turned out to be a large piece of meat that he threw for Becu. He also produced a large bowl and a water skin. The amount of water that came out of it as he poured a bowl for Becu made Loki think it was somehow enchanted.

"Allright, I'll be right back", he said and all but ran behind the rocks. Loki snorted and put Aven down to let her drink from the bowl too. Becu eyed the baby for a bit, causing the sorcerer to get ready to defend the little one, but in the end Becu took a step back and let the younger drake drink first, instead focusing on the meat. Loki pulled out his own food and started cutting pieces, both for himself to eat and to feed to Aven. 

He had sat down on a rock and was mostly done with his own food when Tony returned.

"I took a look around but couldn't see any drakes or fire giants, so we're safe for now", he said and stole a piece of meat from Loki. He hummed happily and then stole another. Loki could have stopped him but saw it best not to and just glare at him half heartedly. "What is this? It tastes amazing!"

"It is boar", Loki told him, not surprising this realm had none. So far he had only seen reptilians.

"Boar... It tastes a lot better than tsy'lta", he stated and looked at Loki like he wanted the aesir to agree. At Loki's blank look he frowned. "Tsy'lta. The big tanky drakes? Tough skin, muted colors and spikes and horns everywhere? Hmm... oh! It's the dead thing that was next to the giant I saved you from."

"I am sure I could have managed without you", Loki felt the need to defend himself. "And I see. No, we do not have those where I come from."

"And where is that?" Tony took the opening. Curse him.

"Vanaheim", Loki said just to be on the safer side. There was a chance Thor and his baffoons had caused a bad taste for the Aesir. Tony snorted and Loki wondered if he was more observant than he seemed. "And you? Are you from one of the towns on the map?"

Tony nodded and popped another piece of boar in to his mouth. 

"I'm from Paethsmouth", he said and took a sip from his water skin. That was a lie. Why did he lie?

"The map, that can't be all of Muspelheim", Loki remarked changing the subject. He'd find out more when the eldun trusted him more. Tony shook his head, seemingly amused of Loki's curiosity.

"No, that is the area that king Wilras controls", Tony said, not afraid to give this information to a stranger. Good, that meant Loki could ask more.

"I thought that... Ratheas The Harbinger was the king here", he inquired without bothering to hide his intrigue. Tony laughed and shook his head.

"Wow you people from Vanaheim are behind the times. King Ratheas died two and a half millenia ago", Tony said with a deep respect for the man in his voice. Not surprising considering Ratheas saved his whole species. His death made it harder to find the Warlock's Eyes though. "King Wilras is his son, He's ruled for the last two millenia."

Loki nodded slowly. King Wilras must know the location of the Warlock's Eye then. He somehow needed to stear the conversation to the artifact without raising suspicion.

"How did Ratheas unite the people? In the other realms the stories vary largely", Loki asked and wasn't lying a bit. No-one outside Muspelheim knew for certain. Most people thought king Ratheas used the mind controlling powers of the Warlock's Eye to force all the eldnar to fight for him. Some said he used the artifact to control the fire giants and forced them to fight each others. Or alternatively just made them leave.

"He asked them", Tony said with a small smile. The warmth of his voice hit Loki harder than the heat of Muspelheim. It was the warmth Loki used when he spoke of his mother. And that respect... Loki didn't have anyone he respected that much. And how he wished he had. "Back when he was just Ratheas Algylson, a young man with no name, king Ratheas found an artifact called the Warlock's Eye."

Loki had to fight not to react. This fool was going to tell a stranger about his country's strongest weapon! Unaware of Loki's excitement Tony continued his story. 

"The Warlock's Eye is a powerful weapon that can be used to control one's mind. King Ratheas could have become a dictator. He could have taken over everyone's minds. No-one would have been able to stop him. It must have been very tempting..." Tony took a little break to sigh and shook his head. "He was less than two hundred years old, but he didn't fall to the temptation. Instead he used it to send a message. He pleaded for all eldnar to join him, to fight against the fire giants. And people did. They all put their trust in this young man that no-one knew."

Loki wasn't sure he'd be that strong. He wasn't sure if he could use such a tempting power so selflessly.

"Some say he became the king that very day, but it wasn't until a hundred years of war later that he was officially crowned king. He ruled for 400 hundred years before he just disappeared", Tony shrugged as if uncaring about the fate of the former king, but obviosly that wasn't true. 

"What happened to the Eye", Loki couldn't help but ask. He wasn't sure if Tony would answer, but if he did... That would make this whole journey so much easier. Tony looked at Loki for a few seconds before standing up and wiping his hands on his trousers.

"He hid it. Apparently only told the royal family where", he said with a tone that said Loki couldn't ask more. Damn it. There was no way Loki could just walk up to the royal family and ask for the Eye. He would continue with his current plan for now, find out more. There was a chance someone else could know. 

Tony whistled for Becu who was nowhere to be seen. Alarmed Loki realized Aven was gone too. Cursing he got up and started looking for the baby. This was bad. Only a few days and Loki had already lost his baby. What was he-

Becu rounded the rocks, coming in to sight with a happy yip. On his shoulders was Aven who looked happy to be riding the bigger drake.

"Oh Aven my child, do not scare me so", Loki chastised and rushed forward to scoop the hasit in his arms. Tony chuckled and packed away the bowl. 

"Go on to do your business if you have to, I'll look after your daughter and then we'll be on our way again", the eldun said obviously holding back laughter. But his eyes were warm so Loki only glared at him and refrained from being offended.

___________________________________________________________________

After a few more hours of riding, they finally stopped for the night. Tony fed and watered his sahali first. He did this again before seeing to his own needs. That made Loki respect the man more. He had met many people on his travels who thought of themselves first.

They were sheltered by some rocks again, though this spot also had a little overhang to shelter them and seemed like it was a popular stop for people traveling this area.

Loki had laid down his travel bag and was now sitting and feeding Aven. The babe was almost done, making a soft purring noises and licking its lips with a pink tongue. Tony spread out his own travel mattress and sat on it opposite of Loki. His tail was lazily flicking from side to side as he watched Loki rub Aven's tummy. 

"Why do you not just fly?" Loki asked, as it was something that had been bothering him. Tony just raised an eyebrow in question. "You have wings. Why not fly to where you have to go?"

Tony shook his head with a grimace. 

"Our wings aren't strong enough for long trips like that. Long distances are very exhausting and cause a lot of back pain. Two hours is the most I can fly at once", Tony said with a proud voice. Two hours must have been a lot. "Some can't fly at all, their wings are too small."

Loki nodded and laid down, managing to pinch his new tail a bit before he corrected his position. There was also something else he hadn't asked Tony yet.

"So why are you going to Taed Morden?" he asked as Tony also laid down. Muspelheim seemed to never really get dark thanks to all the lava, but the sun had set and it was a little bit dimmer and there were a lot of shadows cast on the rocks.

"For the same reason as you, well... kind of. I'm going for the library. I found a... crystal. I'm curious so I'm trying to figure out what it is. I've been to a few different libraries already, but no luck so far", Tony said with a yawn. That was a lie. At least partially but Loki couldn't tell which part. Maybe he hadn't found the crystal but stolen it?

"May I see it? I have traveled to many places and studied many forms of magic, I might be able to help you", he asked trying to sound the proper amount of curious. Tony studied him for a few seconds before digging something from his pocket and tossing it to Loki. The sorcerer caught it easily and turned it over in his hand.

It was a blue crystal, perfectly round and smooth, the size of his fist. It was partially transparent with what seemed like a dim light inside of it. Loki let out a tendril of his magic to gently touch it and was immediatly alerted to danger. The sphere cointained a lot of volatile power that threatening to lash out if he poked at it too much. Humming he turned it around a few more times. Interesting. It didn't seem to have any particular use that he could divine, he couldn't tell it's age, where it was made or by whom... For a second Loki entertained the idea that this was the Eye, but that was too easy and would be ridiculous a ridiculous coincidence. Loki tossed the sphere back to Tony who caught it and put it back in his pocket with a fluid motion. It was a bit disconcerting that Tony was walking around with something that powerful in his pocket.

"Tony", Loki started to ask something from Tony again with a quiet voice.

"Yes Lucan", tony answered with an amused tone.

"Tony", Loki said again with a glare at his... friend? Companion. "Do you have magic?"

Loki hadn't met that many men with magic. Some in Vanaheim and Nilfheim had magic but... it was still concidered a womanly art. tony cast a confused look at him and nodded slowly. He must have heard the hope in Loki's tone, curses.

"Every Eldun has at least a little magic. Mostly elemental magic and basic spells but... yeah, I have magic", he said with a smile on his lips and lifted his hand in the air. A small ball of light appeared between his fingers and grew until it was slightly bigger than his blue crystal had been. It looked like a star, very bright yet Loki was still able to look at it directly. It had the colors of the rainbow dancing inside it, overlapping and disappearing in to the white. Loki couldn't say what it was. It looked like pure light, but it also looked like it was solid, like he could reach over and touch it. And then it was gone. Tony closed his fist and it was like it had never been there.

"That is beautiful", the Aesir whispered with a stunned voice. Tony just smiled at him and Loki smiled back. It was strange. He couldn't remember the last time he had smiled at another person and fully mean it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's notes:
> 
> \- Muspelheim is inhabited by multiple different kinds of drakes and reptilians. Sahali, hasit and tsy'lta are the first of many to come. 
> 
> -Becu's name comes from Berylium Copper (BeCu). Beryllium copper combines high strength with non-magnetic and non-sparking qualities. It has excellent metalworking, forming and machining qualities. (wikipedia) I mostly just liked it red-ish orange color and the description fit Tony well.
> 
> -'Blazing' is the Muspel way of saying 'cool'. Figured in a realm of fire and lava the word cool wouldn't be very common.
> 
> -About Tony's way of speaking: Tony is speaking Muspel's own language, but in a relaxed dialect. That is why I'm using relaxed English with him and not Shakespear speak.


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, spent most of yesterday at a hospital (Just an exam thing, no worries)
> 
> And thank you SOOO much to anyone who has read, kudos'd or commented. I might have cried a little. Over 300 hits!!! That is amazing to me lajdlajd
> 
> Okay so uhmm... Yeah, here's the next chapter

Loki woke up to Aven licking his face with her slimy tongue. He blinked at the little hasit groggily before stretching out. Aven yipped and climbed in his lap as soon as he was sitting up.

"I am awake now, my child", he said quietly and reached out a hand to rub between Aven's shoulder blades. He cast a look at the sleeping eldun near him, who looked very peaceful like that. It was only now that Loki realized, that when awake, Tony looked a bit... strained... like he was worrying about something. 

Tony was a mystery. Normally, Loki liked solving mysteries but with this man... he was afraid that if he cracked the mystery Tony would be just as boring as the rest of them. That there'd be nothing special about him. For years Loki had longed for an equal. Someone who could see him for himself. A friend who didn't look down on his 'tricks', rather appreciated the complexity and beauty of magic.

No, Loki shouldn't get his hopes up. Trying to dust off the ever present ash off his clothes he got up and rolled up his travel bag. 

"Tony, it is time to wake up", he said with a voice that was perhaps a little too harsh. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair between the horns. It wasn't Tony's fault everyone was so simple. "Tony, you must rise now."

"Just a bit longer El", Tony muttered making the Aesir frown. Who was El? Tony's wife perhaps.

"I am not El", Loki answered with slight contempt in his voice. "And you must wake up now if we wish to ever reach Taed Morden."

Tony blinked his eyes open and stared at Loki for a few long seconds.

"No, you're right. You're much prettier than he is", he said with a what was most likely supposed to be a charming smile but the effect was dimmed by the wrinkles on his face an his hair that was partially covering his face and tangled with his horns. He must have opened his hair sometime during the night. It seemed like it would reach little over the eldun's shoulders if it wasn't so matted.

"You on the other hand, look absolutely horrible", Loki answered with a smile dancing on his lips. Tony glared and reach up a hand to start sorting out his hair.

"I apologize that not everyone can look like the Rain Bringer first thing in the morning", Tony said getting up and stretching. Loki wasn't sure if he should be offended or glad that Tony seemed to find him attractive. Scratching his stomach lazily Tony made his way over to Becu who was still fast asleep and gently kicked the sahali's leg. "Wake up o' beast of mine. If I'm not allowed to sleep, neither are you."

"Rain Bringer?" Loki asked as Tony started making his way behind the rocks to complete his morning rituals. Tony just waved his hand in the air in a motion that Loki took to mean 'later'.

Shrugging he set to make himself and Aven travel ready. They still had two days of travel if Tony's estimation was correct.

When Tony returned Loki had gotten himself fully situated and was feeding Aven. It almost seemed like Aven was a little larger already... not by much, she would still easily fit inside Loki's tunik.

"How long will it take for Aven to reach her full size?" he asked his companion. That seemed like a good place to start this mornings questions. Tony looked at the baby, seeming much more awake now, unlike Becu who was still fast asleep.

"Four months or so for her to stop growing rapidly and then she'll grow a bit more until she's a year old", the man said and pulling out something that looked like bread to eat. He gave Becu's leg another kick when he walked past the sleeping beast.

"And she is the smallest drake there is?" Loki inquired and rubbed Aven's belly absentmindedly. Tony was shaking his head now.

"Nah, Sitsos are the smallest. The size Aven is now, but as an adult. Horrible things", Tony said with a shiver. He really didn't seem to like the small drakes. "They will steal everything they can carry for no good reason at all. And they can eat anything. Old women always warn new mothers not to leave their babies unsupervised or a Sitso will eat it. I don't know if that's true, probably not. I hope not..."

Loki laughed at the horror on Tony's face, earning himself a glare.

"Hey, just wait until your lunch is stol-"

A deafening roar split the air. Suddenly Becu was standing in front of them, facing towards the opening in the rocks. Both Tony and Loki had their weapons drawn in no time. Becu rushed forwards towards whatever it was, Tony right behind him. Loki only stopped to pick up Aven and force her in to the safety of his tunic, ignoring the baby's protests. When he rounded the rocks he stopped in his trail.

There were three drakes, smaller than Becu, reaching to Loki's elbow. They had no wings and less feathers than Becu had, but they were fast. Very fast and cordinated. There was a grey one, dark red one and one that was red, green and purple. However, they were not what made Loki stop.

It was Tony. He had his wings out again, spread out in all of their majesty. His weapon was not a spear this time, instead he had somehow split it in two to make two long blades, covered in the same light Tony had shown yesterday. Loki couldn't see his face but it made a beautiful picture. A man and drake, facing down their enemies.

Tony leaped high in to the air and brought both his swords down towards the grey one, barely dodging an enlonged snapping from the red ones maw. Loki sprung in to action, teleporting behind the purple one and skillfully guiding his daggers at its shoulders attempting to drag the drake down but the beast held its footing pulling Loki foward onto its back. It let out a gutwrenching roar that made the other two drakes lose focus. Tony's weapon made a clicking sound and the two blades formed a broadsword, still coated in the light. The eldun swung in a wide arc and managed to cut off the head of the grey one who fell with resiliance in its eyes. Becu was striking out with arms and jaw at the red one with fierce growling from both drakes. 

The drake Loki was now half riding started thrashing despite the daggers in it's neck. He pulled one of them out, with a sick squishing sound and slammed the dagger across the creature's throat releasing a flow of bright green fluid onto the thirsty rocks. It let out a wet groan and fell to the ground dead. The red one was running away from Becu who chased it a little ways before returning to them. Tony walked over to Loki with his weapon retracting back to the rod form. 

"What is that?" Loki asked with an incredulous voice pointing at the... black rod. Tony chuckled and flipped the rod in his hand.

"Oh this? I made it", he said trying to sound non-chalant, but it was obvious he was proud of his creation. "Are you two all right?"

Loki nodded slowly. He hadn't taken a hit and neither had Aven. Tony nodded and went to check on Becu. He had made it? Tony had made that weapon. It was like nothing Loki had seen before. Was that normal here? Loki's mind was reeling. He'd have to completely re-assess how advanced these people were.

"Becu is fine, good. So as soon as he's eaten we'll continue our journey", Tony said and walked back in to their camp. He really seemed to have no qualms with leaving dead bodies in his wake. 

"Thank you", Loki said to the sahali that was now yawning. Becu turned to look at him, turning his head sideways a bit. "For warning us."

Becu made a happy yip and followed Tony to go get his water and food. How much did he understand? Did he understand speach or just inflection of tones? This realm was full of questions.

"You had a nice trick you did", Tony said when Loki came back to the camp. At Loki's confused look he specified. "That thing you did. You were in one place and then instantly in another..."

Tony frowned, probably trying to figure out how to do it himself. 

"Teleportation", Loki said with a smile. Tony was biting his lip now. Obviously he wanted to ask something so the aesir just stared at him until he made up his mind.

"Could you maybe... Teach me?" Tony said sounding hopeful. 

Gladly, so gladly would Loki teach Tony. To have someone appreciate his skills...

"I can try, it is not easy", he said with an air indifference. Tony's face lit up brighter than the sun and he was almost vibrating with excitement. "When we reach Taed Morden maybe?"

Tony nodded excitedly.

"Yes! Thank you! That is so amazing!" he exclaimed. "It'd be so blazing to just appear behind my enemy and... Oh man I can't wait."

Loki laughed and shook his head at the man's antics. 

"Well Rain Bringer, shall we get back to riding?" Tony asked and went to fasten the saddle back onto Becu.

"You still need to explain to me what the Rain Bringer is", Loki said as Tony mounted the sahali and held his hand for Loki to get behind him.

"If you know a spell that will let us talk despite the wind, I'll tell you one of our children's stories", the eldun said as Loki sat behind him. Indeed he knew a spell like that.

______  
_  
The world of Muspelheim is dry and hot. Water only flows underground and the wise ones say it will one day run out and the crops will wither, cattle die of thirst and in the end, even the eldran._

_When Muspelheim is dying the tears of mothers will burn on the ground and their prayers will be answered._

_A leaf shall fall from the branches of Yggdrasil. From the leaf shall a spirit emerge, a spirit more beautiful than anything ever seen, beauty that blinds you. The spirit shall roam Muspelheim and see its suffering._

_In its travel the spirit shall meet many a stranger, each in more pain than the last._

_After traveling for days, the spirit shall arrive at the cave of a dying man. The man had given the rest of his water to his children and sent them to look for more. Each had picked a direction, one going south, one east, one west and one north. Each son swore they would return and bring water back to their home. The old man pleads the spirit to aid his sons, to seek them out and tell them not to come back, that it was too late. The man takes his last breath and makes the spirit swear to him._

_The spirit shall roam again. It finds three of the sons, but is too late. All of them are consumed by the heat. At the last mountain he finds the last son gazing at the nothingness beyond the mountains._

_The son says nothing, already knowing his family was gone. He cannot cry, does not have the strength to, so the spirit cries for him._

_When the tears fall and burn on the grounds of Muspelheim the skies split open and for the first time it rains._  
  
______

They took a break next to a large stone that had been painted white on the top.

"That means close to Taed Morden", Tony said pointing at the rock. "We might be able to reach it today if we ride a bit longer... Becu just needs a little bit longer rest and he can run a few extra hours, isn't that right boy?"

Becu just stared at his owner for a few seconds before huffing and stalking off to eat and rest. Aven yipped and followed the bigger drake happily.

"Don't worry about him Rain. He likes to complain", the eldun explained as he sat to eat his own dinner.

"Why do you call me that?" Loki asked suddenly. "From your story, the Rain Bringer was the most beautiful creature to walk Muspelheim."

"Well you are th-... You are awfully pretty aren't you", Tony said looking away. You are the most beautiful creature to walk Muspelheim. Interesting. Loki wondered if Tony was blushing. Probably not, but one could hope. Loki frowned at himself, why would he want to see that?

"You do know some men could be offended for being called pretty, yes?" Loki asked to distract them both. Not that he was minded being called pretty all that much. His Asgardian up-bringing told him that no man should be called pretty or beautiful, but Loki had never been a normal Aesir. His magic was proof enough of that.

"Oh?" Tony made a little strangled sound at the back of his throat, looking like a fawn ready to flee. "I didn't mean to- I mean in here it's not-"

Chuckling Loki raised his hand to stop the other man before he could work himself in to a knot.

"Calm, Tony. It is fine. I said some men, not me", he said with a small smile. It warmed something inside him to know Tony didn't want to insult him. That he cared and wanted Loki to know that... It was strange and something he was un-used to. The Aesir didn't care if they offended Loki. They just told him not to take everything so seriously. Tony sent Loki back an uncertain smile and the sorcerer was struck with a fear that Tony might come to care for Loki too much. He was here to steal a priceless artifact from the eldran after all.

Yet, the thought that Tony might care for him didn't sound so horrible.

"So I can call you Rain? Or should I keep to Lucan?" Tony asked looking at the ground now. This was important to him it seemed. Lucan was not his name, so Loki did not find it important to called that. The pet name Rain was important to Tony.

"Yes you may call me Rain", he told his companion and was rewarded with that bright smile again. Loki wondered which one of the thousands of questions swimming in his head he could ask next. Something hopefully neutral for now... "Where did you get Becu, if I may ask?"

Tony glanced over at his sahali with a warm smile. 

"My brother's son, Augur gave his egg to me on the 100th year of my birth", He said, making it obvious he loved his family.

"Augur? Your nephew is a seer? Someone who can see the future?" Loki asked getting interested. Seer's always had a lot of knoweledge. This made the eldun laught, however.

"Nah, it's just a name I gave him. You'll get used to it, I give most people I meet names", Tony said still chuckling. So maybe it was some sort of rite of passage? Once Tony had accepted you, he gave you a pet name? The thought made Loki... happy. This however, gave him an idea for another question.

"Is El your brother then?" At Tony's quizzical look he felt he needed to extrapolate. "You mentioned his name when I was waking you up."

Tony made a long 'Aah' sound and nodded then.

"Yeah, no. My brother is called Ray. El is my... Hmmm, I guess you could call him my assistant? He helps at my smithy and in my life in general I guess", Tony said shrugging. A servant? "He doesn't like traveling so I left him at home." That was a lie. It was so peculiar the things Tony lied about the things he didn't. Loki couldn't figure out a reason for it. It did not offend him however. After all, he had lied a lot too. "Do you have siblings, Rain?"

Oh, and now Tony wanted to know more about him, of course. 

"Yes, I have a brother", Loki told the... smith? Tony probably was a smith. "He is... Not much like me. He has no magic, loves to fight... He is a brute."

Tony smiled at him, having caught the warmth of his voice, curse him. Loki sighed and watched as the eldun sat against rock to take a nap while they were waiting Becu to rest. Might as well, Loki though and followed suit.

____________________________________

"-all the time, I wonder if this is even true, that with you, I am seeing the magic of love", a singing voice woke Loki up. He opened his eyes to Tony twirling around with Aven in his arms, singing to the young drake. "That really carries, this feeling until the next day. And for a moment again, delightfully, I can feel my heart soar."

Loki watched as the eldun danced around, singing to the hasit. Aven was doing her best to sing along, letting out happy little yips. Becu also joined the song, making lower noices, completely off key.

"I want to truly be yours, I don't want to play at love. Truly experience everything with you, that we've only dream about. I want to lay my head in your lap, fall asleep in your warmth, to truly be happy with you, only you truly love."

At this point Tony seemed to realize he had an audience and froze. After a split second of thinking he seemed to decide to own up to it and bowed with a flourish.

"Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, I have been Tony, joined by lovely Aven and not-so lovely Becu. Seriously B, I have tried to teach you the meaning of melody", Tony chastised his sahali, who just made a huffing noise.

"You sing well", the aesir told his companion, who just waved his hand dismissively. 

"We sing a lot. By we I mean the eldran. Too much if you ask me", Tony walked over and handed Aven over to Loki. The babe chirped happily and burrowed against his chest. "Whenever there is any kind of celebration we sing. And when you live underground, you celebrate a lot or go crazy. Mind you, many still do. My mama always says those people just don't sing enough. Do your people sing a lot?"

"Yes, we do. Just not... not like that", Loki told the eldun with a small smile on his lips. "Because of my brother, most songs I know are tavern songs about slaying beasts and saving fair maidens."

Tony laughed, shaking his head. 

"I'll have to teach you some songs. I bet you're good singer, right?" Tony asked while radying Becu for joyrney again. Sometimes... Tony spoke as if this was going to last. That they weren't going to part ways soon. They had no reason to stay together after they reached Taed Morden. "Well, we'll reach Taed Morden today. I can't wait to sleep in a real bed..."

Loki climbed behind Tony just as normal, but frowned when Becu didn't start moving. He was bout to ask what was wrong, when Tony's tail slowly moved wrapped around Loki's waist. The man still said nothing, most likely waiting for a rebuttal, but instead the sorcerer smiled and wrapped his arms around the eldun.

"Could you tell me another story?"

"They're mostly for children."

"'Tis fine."  
_____________________  
_Long ago there was a princess who was the only child of a king. Seeing as she was going to be the ruler of all the lands, all eligible bachelors vied for her hand. Each unmarried man brought her gifts and presents, all grander than the last, but the princess saw that their souls were dark. Her father was a kind king and she wanted a man like that to rule with her, however, only people with selfish desired presented themselves in front of her._

_Knowing she would not find a fitting husband this way, the princess asked her most loyal and faithfull servant to go out into the town and look for someone who would care for the people as much as she did._

_And so the servant did. She went out and observed the people for many days. She saw many acts of kindness and generosity, but still felt that it was not enough. See, even though people gave for those who had less, they still only gave when it suited them, they thought of themselves first and only helped when it wouldn't hurt themselves._

_On the fifth day the servant was close to giving up, no one person was good enough to run the country or deserve the hand of her princess. The servant was sitting at the foot of a statue in the market place when she saw a beggar. He was dressed in dirty rags, hair matted and his cheek hollowed from malnourishement. As the servant watched, the beggar pulled out a roll of bread and took the smallest bite out of it. When the beggar saw a small lizard, he gave it few crumbs off of his bread._

_This gave the servant an idea and she approached the man._

_"My good sir, I have just lost my home and all of my possession, could you spare me a piece of your bread", the servant asked the beggar who didn't even hesitate before breaking the bread in half, giving from the last of his food. The servant thanked the man and left._

_The servant returned the next day to find the beggar in the same place, and again she went to the man._

_"My good sir, you gave me bread yesterday. Today, I do not have anything to eat again, could you spare me another piece?" she asked, and again the beggar gave half of his bread without hesitating._

_The next day the servant returned again to the man and asked:_

_"My good sir, I am so very hungry, could you give me another piece of bread?" she asked the beggar. However, the bread roll only had a small piece left, not enough to feed even one person. Still, the beggar did not hesitate and this time he gave the rest of the bread to the servant. "Thank you good sir. You have shown me a kindness and given me your all even if it may cost you your life. Now let me return that kindness to you."_

_And so the servant took the beggar, a man truly worthy of her princess and the title of king, to the royal palace, where he became a loving husband to the princess and in time, a good king for the country._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tony has lightsabers *mic drop*
> 
> Author's notes:
> 
> \- Why does Tony have non-canon family members and his drake isn't named Jarvis or Dummy or something else relevant to canon as people often do in fics? Because *spoilers*. But no worries, everything I do, I do for a reason.
> 
> \- The story of the Rain Bringer and the story of the Kind Beggar and many of the stories that will show up in the future are made up my me and my husband, but may bear resemblance to fairy tales and folk stories that already exist (If they do that is un-intentional unless I say otherwise)
> 
> \- The augur was a priest and official in the classical world, especially ancient Rome and Etruria. His main role was the practice of augury, interpreting the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds: whether they are flying in groups or alone, what noises they make as they fly, direction of flight and what kind of birds they are. 
> 
> \- The song Tony sings is Oikeesti by Finlanders (Truly, For Real, Really). I made an approximate translation for this fic. I will, in the future too, use non-English songs (mostly Finnish ones seeing as that is my native language) and translate and edit them to fit the world of Muspelheim, rather than come up with songs myself. That way people can listen to the melody of the song if they want. I will always put a link to the original song at the end of the chapter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOlR2SomOqU


	5. chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you!
> 
> Uhh... Yeah so I'm tired but really, thank you. It's amazing to me that people actually read this and want more.
> 
> side note, should I make some sort of Muspelpedia? I'm not 100% sure about how to make it without it containing spoilers for people who aren't up to date with chapters, but it feels like a good idea for a centralized information hub thing...
> 
> There might be a few typos, both me and my hisband are really tired.
> 
> Also, us editing this could make for good reality tv with all the excuses I come up for my typos.
> 
> "Why does this say 'Tony hopped turned around'?"  
> "I don't know, maybe Tony likes hopping around, who are we to judge him?"

Taed Morden was an old dormant volcano, carved out to make a city. It had only one entrance, protected by a large gate house. The gates themselves weren't very big, most likely to make it harder for a fire giant to get inside.

What surprised Loki was the intricate details. Tony explained to him, that the battle for this area and the construction for the city were carved on the walls. It was mostly made of stones of black and gray, with large white statues on either side. The sorcerer couldn't recognize the creature's depicted. They were a mix of an eldun and a drake. Maybe ancestors from when the eldun evolved from drakes?

"Those are gwyler", Tony whispered to him as he pulled Becu to a stop. The gates were closed and there was no-one in sight, but Tony seemed content to just wait. "They are believed to be protectors, sent by the gods in times of need."

A figure jumped out from a window higher up in the gate house and landed in front of them with a flap of wings, making the ash and dust spiral in the air. He seemed young, with blond hair, short but thick horns on his forehead and wings of dark green and bright yellow. He was wearing some sort of uniform of black leather and dark metal. On his chest was depicted, what seemed to be, a mountain with a dead tree coming out of it.

"State your name, hometown, and business", the guard said with a bored voice.

"Tony Alethson, this is Lucan Kistason. We're from Paethsmouth, here to sudy", Tony said cheerily even though he must have been very tired. Apparently Tony had no problem lying to his country's officials, even making up a name for Loki. Maybe he really was a criminal. "We have my sahali here and a baby hasit with us. The baby just hatched so it hasn't been registered yet."

Tony handed over some papers and after looking them over the guard nodded, still looking all too bored, like he wanted to be doing anything else right now. Had Tony got papers for Loki also? The man gave the papers back and did a slow circle around Becu. Aven was looking at the stranger with an interest, peeking her head out from Loki's tunic.

"Are you carrying anything illegal, like eggs, paci crystals, amala, or aja-pak?"

"Nope", the smith answered popping the 'p', even though he had no way to know Loki wasn't carrying any of the things the guard listed, even if he didn't know what most of them were.

"Alright, you may enter. First thing tomorrow you have to go by the hatchery to register your hasit and have a tamer look at it", the guard said and flew back to the window he had jumped down from. After a few seconds the gate opened, letting them inside the city.

"Kistason?" Loki whispered.

"Kista, rain in Muspein" Tony quietly replied as they passed through the gate.

Whatever Loki had been expecting, it wasn't this. 

The city was huge and... beautiful. Everything was made of stone and -surprisingly- wood. The stone ranged from black to white and there was also red and blue stones. The city itself was layered. In the middle of the mountain, on the lowest level, there was a large open area. The closer to the sides of the mountain you went, the higher the tiers went. At the back, furthest from the gate was a keep made of black stone. The streets were lit by crystals and the starlight coming in from the open top of the mountain. It was night, but there was still people walking around. Eldran, mostly adults, were walking and chattering happily. There was laughter and music flowing from some of the open windows as they rode by. And there were trees with black trunks and white leaves, silver grass, purple flowers...

"It's quite the sight isn't it", Tony said quietly, as if not wanting to break Loki from his revere. 

"Yes, it is", he answered as quietly. And it really was. Loki had never seen anything like it. Sure, he had seen magical cities built in giant trees, cities made of marble, his own golden city, but never something like that. It wasn't overly embellished. It didn't look like it was built to wow, that just had happened somewhere along the way. They made their way to the next tier and headed towards a small group of buildings. Tony stopped Becu in front of a stable and helped Loki dismount.

"Wait here and gawk at the city, I'll go put Becu in the stables and then we'll go get us rooms in the tavern."

Loki nodded absentmindedly, not even offended by that. He could see drakes, a few sahali, hasit and what must have been sitsos. The sitsos were small with long bodies. They had small nubs for horns, no wing or feathers like every other drake Loki had seen. They moved around with almost liquid movement, reminding the sorcerer of snakes and felines. They seemed to avoid going too close to people or the larger drakes.

Two young men passed them and smiled at Loki politely. He was about to answer the smile, but saw that their tails were entwined. Was that the eldran version of holding hands? These two men were... a couple? They would be shunned in Asgard but here... Loki cast a look around him, but no-one was paying any attention to the two men.

"Okay", Tony said, coming up behind the Aesir, carrying the saddle bags on his shoulder. "The library is up there, on the other side of the city. That tall building on the highest level. We'll go there tomorrow, but for now, sleep."

Loki chuckled at how desperate for sleep Tony sounded and followed the man inside the tavern adjacent to the stables.

The tavern at least looked like what Loki was used to. A counter to the left of the door, long tables all around the ground floors and stairs on the back leading up to the rooms. Despite the absence of a band, music could be heard in the large room. There was an ancient looking woman at the counter. Her horns were sawed off, leaving only light gray stumps on her forehead. Tony flinched minutely when he saw the woman, but then smiled at her charmingly. Her tail was completely gray, making Loki wonder if they had always been like that or if they had grayed with old age like her hair had.

"Evening, fra-ciena", Tony said bowing a bit. A smile spread on the woman's lips and she bowed back. It was rather annoying when the all-speak didn't translate everything.

"Evening, young man", the woman said with a humorous spark in her eyes that made Tony grimace and clear his throat.

"We would require two rooms, if you have any free", Tony said casting a look around the room. The few patrons there were drinking, ignoring them. "I'm not sure how long we'll be staying, multiple days at least."

"Of course, dear. May I have your names?" the woman asked and pulled out a book with that same black paper Loki was starting to get used to. Tony gave her their fake names, and they both received grey crystals the size of Loki's middle finger. One had the number 6 etched on to it, the other had the number 7. "Here you go, you can pay when you leave."

Loki would have to get what ever passed for money in this place before that. They both thanked the woman and climbed the stairs to the second floor. There seemed to be at least one more floor on top of them. Loki stopped in front of the room with the number 6 carved to the gray door.

"I shall see you in the morrow then?" he asked Tony, not really wanting to part with his only friend in this realm. Tony just smiled that bright smile of his.

"Of course. We'll go by the hatchery to get Aven checked and then head to the library", Tony said and hesitated in front of Loki. "I uhm.. I'll see you tomorrow, good night Rain."

With that, the eldun walked over to his door, stopped once more after opening it, gave Loki a small wave and disappeared inside. The sorcerer sighed, feeling dissapointed for some reason and turned to his own door. On top of the handle there was a hole just big enough for the crystal he had received and he tried inserting it there. He could feel the hum of magic and hear a faint click, as the door opened. Everything in this place worked with magic... Loki could really learn to love this realm.

The room wasn't overly large, it only had a bed, a table with a chair and a door which, after checking, turned out to be some sort of bathing room with a small bath, a bowl and a strange seat with a hole in the middle. He could guess what it was used for. On the back wall, next to the bed was a window, facing towards the keep. Loki pulled the heavy drapes in front of it to stop the light from coming in. There was still a crystal giving light on top of the table.

"Well Aven, this is our home for the time being", he told his little drake as he put her on the floor. Aven immediately started running around, sniffing everything and trying to climb the drapes, "Oh do not destroy anything my child."

Loki sat on the bed and pulled out Aven's food. He would need to find more food soon. And money.

Loki let out a yawn, that Aven was quick to copy. Tomorrow he would start to look for the Warlock's Eye. He would make the all-father proud and save Asgard.

He didn't even realize he had laid down and drifted off to sleep.

______________

Loki woke to Aven licking his face again. Groaning he pushed the baby away.

"Your breath smells worse than Thor's", he told the hasit with a drowsy voice. The smell might have been him though. He really needed a bath. 

The bath had no water, only a crystal on the wall on top of it. After some examination, Loki figured to send a pulse of magic in it to make water flow out of it. Impressive. He fed the ever hungry hasit baby while he waited for the bath to fill. It was nice to wash off days of dust and ash. His horns, that had been dark gray, were all but black now. He also washed Aven who seemed to enjoy swimming around in the water and making bubbles.

He was just done, drying himself on the fluffy clothes that had been next to the bath, when there was a knock on the door.

"Are you awake yet Rain?" Tony's voice carried through the door. Loki was a bit surprised the eldun was awake. "There is food downstairs in the tavern and I've heard that the food here is really goo-"

Tony was cut short when Loki opened the door. He wasn't even trying to hide how he was ogling Loki's half naked body. Rolling his eyes Loki turned around to get dressed, wondering if he should have just shut the door in Tony's face when the other man followed him inside.

"Okay wow. So, food. Delicious", Tony said with a lewd grin on his face. Aven yipped and ran over to the man, the traitor that she was. "Ooh if it isn't my favorite little lady. How are you this morning, princess Aven?"

Loki chuckled at the eldun's cooing and dressed quickly while Tony's attention was on Aven.

They both made their way downstairs to break the fast, Aven sitting on Tony's shoulder. She was almost too big for that already but Tony didn't seem to mind.

A young woman greeted them from behind the counter this time. She had blond hair, blue eyes, delicate white horns and a short white tail with light lavender ridges.

"Good morning", she said all too cheerily. "I will bring you breakfast shortly. Would you prefer mauw-aswyr, isth-tsy'lta or sachmazdi."

"Oh, aswyr definitely", Tony said and Loki nodded along. Tsy'lta was the tanky drake and that was the only word he recognized. Hopefully this aswyr would taste good. They sat at one of the free tables, further away from anyone else. Good opportunity to ask more about the Muspelhiem culture.

"Tony, I must ask", the Aesir started and then hesitated. "Yesterday I saw a couple while I was waiting for you. However, both of them were... men."

"Okay well, first of all, that's not a question", Tony started with a confused look on his face. "And second, well... I don't understand."

Loki frowned. He must have been correct then. Two men could be together, it wasn't something to be ashamed of. Maybe he-

Loki shook his head. 

"In most of the other realms, two men should not act so familiar towards each other in public. Most don't see the harm in engaging in acts like that in private, but outside of your bedroom, relations like that are for man and woman only", Loki explained with a detached tone. His eldun friend however, looked completely appalled.

"But... you can't help who you love!" Tony exclaimed, attracting the attention of the nearby tables. He muttered a quick 'sorry' and continued in a lower tone. "It's not like you can just choose whether you are attracted to men or women. Why would anyone be forced into an unhappy relationship? Only difference is, that when it's a man and a woman, they can have children. Which, our population is big enough already, we're not trying to actively raise it or anything."

Tony stopped and looked at Loki for a long moment. 

"We have those stories, from before the last kingdoms fell long ago. Children who were abandoned by their parents because of who they loved, be it someone considered under their rank, or someone of the same gender", Tony paused again, looking like he was choosing his words carefully. Damn him for being so perceptive. "If your parents don't love you for who you are, they don't deserve you. And whether you love men or women or both is part of who you are. A parents love should be unconditional."

Loki swallowed thickly. Damn him!

"Lucan, listen-"

"And here you go, two portions of mauw-aswyr", the cheery woman interrupted the eldun and Loki had never been so happy for a diversion. He turned to the woman, completely ignoring Tony who just sighed heavily and thanked the woman.

"Thank you...um?"

"Oh, Dayice", the woman, Dayice said in her happy tone. She cast an appraising look over the sorcerer and then adopted a more flirtatious smile. "And you, sar-ciena?"

"Lucan", he answered with a polite smile, trying to convey he wasn't interested. Dayice just winked at him and walked away. Tony snorted and shook his head, cutting a little piece of his food for Aven. The food was white meat and something that looked like potatoes with a dark gravy and a side of bread. "So, where is the hatchery located?"

Tony gave him a knowing look, but didn't try to return to the earlier topic. The food was quite delicious, full of flavors and slightly spicy.

"It's one level up, on the same side as the tavern, so it's closed", the smith explained in between bites. "I was also thinking we should get you a sahali so it's easier for you to go around. Don't worry, I can pay for it."

Loki had noticed that Tony didn't pay any attention to prices. He must have had a lot of money his whole life. It felt a bit bad to rely on Tony so much, but Loki did need his own sahali.

"If you are offering", he said with a small smile. That just made the smith smile wide.

"Yes good, I like to give things to people. Usually I make the things myself, but buying them is nice too", Tony chattered away. "I mean, I would love to make you something, but I don't have the tools with me to really make anything. Everything is back in my smithy. You know, I hope El hasn't messed everything up. I told him not to touch anything while I was away, but he always gets ideas and tries to do experiments when I'm not looking. I swear he causes more explosions than I do."

Loki just blinked at him. Tony caused a lot of explosions? Somehow, that wasn't a surprise. 

"Do be quiet and finish your food. At this rate we'll never make it to the library", the Aesir said with a humorous glint in his eyes, but otherwise serious look on his face. Tony snorted but obeyed. Ah good, he could listen to directions after all.

____________________

The hatchery was more like another stable with an adjacent building made of white stone. According to Tony, the actual hatching happened underground and the stables only housed the drakes that were for sale. The adjacent building had the offices and a clinic for sick drakes. 

When they entered the clinic, a man with dark hair, a bushy beard, black horns and an alarmingly bright tail of purple, red, green and blue came to greet them.

"Good day sars, how may I help you", he asked with a calm voice Loki was used to from those who handled animals.

"My friend here found a baby hasit when we were traveling through The Lost", Tony explained, making Loki glad he took the reigns. He had no idea what to say. "We brought her here to get checked and registered. We're also looking for a sahali."

The man nodded and gestured them to follow him to another room.

"I am tamer Zaneth", the man introduced himself and pointed at a table. "Please place your hasit on the table."

Aven tried with all of her might to stay inside Loki's tunic, it took the combined effort from both Tony and Loki to get her to sit on the table. The poor babe was growling at the tamer and hunching in fear.

"That is perfectly normal", tamer Zaneth said with a calm smile when Loki started to apologize. "She sees the two of you as her parents, I am a stranger. Just give her a little time. In the meanwhile you can fill these papers."

Parents? As in both of them and not just Loki? The tamer handed them a form that required Aven's name, hatch date, location, Loki's name, hometown, citizen number, Aven's breed... luckily Tony was there to help. Zaneth told them that Aven was a tueh-hasit.

Drake: Aven  
Breed: isth-hasit  
Hatch Date: 143.2846 AO  
Hatch Location: The Lost  
Owner: Lucan Kistason  
Owner's CN: 6136593  
Owner's Hometown: Paethsmouth

It was slightly alarming how willing Tony was to lie to the officials of his country. It also made him a lot more... appealing.

"Well, shall we begin", tamer Zaneth asked, settling his hands on the edge of the table for Aven to sniff. "She looks healthy. The skin around her horns is a little dry, but I can give you some oil for that. Just rub it on her once a day for ten days and she'll have no problems. She's the proper size for her age. A bit wary, but I'm guessing she hasn't seen too many people yet. I'm going to now look at her teeth, hopefully she wont bite me."

With calm and sure movements the tamer brought his hands closer and when Aven didn't run away, ran them along her snout. 

"She seems the proper temperature", the man said pushing one finger inside the babe's mouth to force her jaws open. "Teeth look healthy. I'm guessing you've mostly fed her soft food like meat so far? You should start giving her harder food like bones now as her teeth grow."

The man released the hasit, who scurried closer to Loki, using his shirt to climb on his shoulder.

"She seems perfectly healthy", the tamer said with a warm smile. He went to a shelf and came back with a red jar full of oil. "She's a very beautiful drake. You'll have a good companion in her. Now, you wanted to look at a sahali?"

The tamer guided them to the stables. Right away they could hear the sahali's in there chirping and growling at each others.

"Just look through. We have six mushis, four punfels, three mauws, one sach and one tueh", the tamer explained. Loki nodded as if he understood and started walking down the row of stables. The tamer stayed behind, but Tony thankfully followed him.

"There are seven different types to any drake", the smith explained with a low voice. "Isth, that's what Becu is, tueh, gao, punfel, mauw, sach and muhsi. They mostly have color and size variations, some have more horns than others, more feathers, stuff like that."

Loki nodded and stopped in front of one of the stables. Inside was a blue sahali with white feathers and blood-red stomach. It chirped happily and strained its neck to sniff Loki . It was much smaller than Becu, but still big enough for at least one person to ride it. There was a sign on the door saying:

Merry  
Male  
Punfel-sahali  
B: 204.2836 AO  
350C

No. This one was a pleaser. Loki didn't want a pleaser. He moved on to the next stall, that had a large sahali sleeping. All Loki could relly see was different shades of red that reminded him of raw meat.

Arle  
Female  
Mauw-sahali  
B: 35.2795 AO  
400C

No, those colors would make Loki sick in the end. He moved along the stalls, finding a foul in each drake. Too easily spooked, too old, too close to Aven's colors, too close to Thor's colors, that one's left wing had been amputated...

He stopped at a silver drake with black feathers and white stomach. Unlike Becu, it didn't have feathers on its neck and looked much more delicate. It regarded Loki with cool intelligence in its steel-blue eyes. 

Ruth  
Female  
tueh-sahali  
B: 104.2842 AO  
600C

"This one", he said to Tony who nodded and waved for the tamer to come to them.

"Ah, Ruth", tamer Zaneth said when he reached them. "Good choice, she was born in Red Water. Princess Welea's sahali is her mother, though I must warn you that she can be very stubborn. Two people have bought her already and returned her when they couldn't tame her."

Loki scoffed, no wonder.

"A creature like her shouldn't be tamed", he said holding his hand out for Ruth to smell. The sahali lowered her head, still looking at the Aesir with that calculating look in her eyes. Loki bowed minutely to the creature, holding its stare. "I will treat you with respect as long as you return the courtesy."

"The stable hands can teach him how to harness her right?" Tony asked the tamer. At the man's nod Tony smiled brightly. "Good, we can go back inside to fill the papers and I'll pay. I'll take Aven with me, let you introduce yourself first and then the baby."

Loki was left alone with his new drake.

"May I imbue a piece of my seidr with you?", he asked the drake, letting his magic out to gently touch the drake. "That way I will always know if you need help."

When the drake didn't back away he took that as permission, though to be fair he still couldn't be sure the drakes understood speech. Loki lifted his hand to gently pet the sahali's forehead as a small piece of his seidr settled inside the drake. He hadn't done this to Aven yet, she was too young still.

Through the connection he could feel intelligence, higher than he had expected. Ruth was aware of her surroundings, seemed to understand speech and magic. Satisfied, Loki nodded and opened the stall. Ruth walked out with calculated steps. She reminded Loki of her mother, regal and purposeful.

"You- you're not supposed to uh..." a nervous voice said from the door of the stables. There was a nervous looking boy holding a saddle in his hands. His red horns were barely grown, just slightly poking out of his slate colored hair. "You're not supposed to let unbonded drakes out of their stalls."

Loki frowned at the nervous boy that walked slowly closer to them, almost dropping the saddle every other step.

"Bonded?" he asked glancing at Ruth. Was it normal to imbue your seidr to your sahali then?  
`  
"Uh... Oh she's your first sahali? The uhmm... bonding is well... you tie a piece of your core with the sahali and uhm", the boy looked like he was about to keel over, it was rather annoying.

"I did that already", Loki said maybe a little bit too snappily. He just wanted the boy to calm down. Ruth wasn't going to attack him.

"Oh... well that's... okay I guess", the stable hand said handing the saddle to Loki. "I mean you're supposed to wait until you get the papers but... I'm sure its fine. Okay so, first, put the saddle on, and then you fasten this belt..."

The saddling was quite easy. Ruth stayed still, just coolly regarding the nervous boy and Loki had seen Tony do this to Becu enough times. By the time they were done, Tony and tamer Zaneth had come back. Loki walked over to his friend to take Aven from the man.

"Aven, this is your new sister Ruth", the sorcerer told his smaller drake. Ruth lowered her head for Aven to sniff, and the hasit placed her hands on the sahali's snout, tilting her head from side to side in confusion. She must have been sensing Loki's seidr inside Ruth. After a few seconds Aven seemed to have come to a conclusion and made a happy yip. Ruth answered it with a much lower and calmer one. 

"Aww, they like each others", Tony cooed walking over to Ruth. The sahali bowed her head slightly, making Tony frown. "Uh, hello, I'm Tony. You'll be seeing me a lot. Me and my sahali Becu."

Again speaking as if they were going to stay together for a long time. It was very... harrowing. Loki cleared his throat to get Tony's attention.

"Shall we go outside and introduce her to Becu?" he asked, not waiting for an answer and just walking out, Ruth closely behind him. 

Outside, Becu was still where they had left him, by the water through in front of the building. He let out a yip when he saw them and quickly walked over. Ruth gave him the same bow she had given Tony and Becu answered, albeit not bowing quite as low. It annoyed Loki a bit that his drake seemed to be lower in the hierarchy, but if he understood the eldran date system correctly, Ruth was only four years old. Becu seemed much older. 

Loki was able to mount Ruth quite easily, she wasn't much bigger than a horse.

"Okay, to steer your sahali, you only need to slightly press with your legs", Tony explained as he mounted Becu. "Both legs to start moving or go faster, right to turn left, left to turn right. I know it can be slightly confusing..."

"Not at all", Loki assured the man and pressed the tiniest amount against Ruth and she started walking. Most horses weren't that sensitive. "Our mounts follow the same logic. Though we also have reigns, leather strips to turn the horse's head."

Tony frowned at that. He was walking a step ahead of Loki, guiding them towards the library.

"That sounds... rude. To turn someone's head without permission", he said with a disturbed voice and Loki heard the man mutter the word 'horse' with an obvious question mark attached.

"Our mounts are not as intelligent as yours", the Aesir explained with a chuckle. Tony just shook his head.

"But you still bond to them?" the smith asked sounding a bit... disgusted. 

"Oh, because I knew how to do it without instruction?" he asked and at Tony's nod sighed. "My people do not all have magic, remember? No, I chose to do that of my own accord, it is not a common practise. I take it it is here?"

Tony nodded and ran his hand through the feathers on Becu's head. The sahali chirped in answer and made a purring noise.

"We bond our magic to our drakes", he said with a soft voice. "And to our loved ones. Many parents put a piece of their core in their children when they are younger to make sure they are safe."

"Loved ones?" Loki asked with a frown. He couldn't imagine ever trusting another person enough to give a piece of his seidr to them.

"Oh yeah, it can end in a disaster", Tony said laughing at his expression. "I mean, it's the ultimate romantic gesture. Some people just do it too easily or too early,"

Loki hummed and concentrated on watching people for a while as they traveled through the city. There was a lot more people walking about now. Young, old, men, women, alone, together, walking, flying...

Taed Morden was so much more colorful with people walking around. Some had painted their tails or horns, some had their hair braided around their horns, some had colorful clothes, there was even a naked toddler, followed closely by his angry mother. The people were so alive. They seemed happier and less concerned about how people perceived them, than anyone in Asgard or Vanaheim. They reminded Loki more of Midgardians than anything else.

Drakes were milling around naturally between the people. Sahali, hasit, sitso and weird bird-like drakes that flew away whenever children approached them but didn't seem to mind adults.

They passed many interesting looking buildings on their way up the levels. A large building with many children playing outside in the silver grass, more taverns like the one they stayed at, buildings where people were selling things, residential buildings of all sizes and shapes and finally, the library. 

It was large, reminding Loki of the churches Midgardians built with the window art and arch ways. There was another water trough for drakes outside, six sahali already resting near it. 

"Unfortunately, drakes aren't allowed inside, but Becu and Ruth can take care of Aven", Tony said, when they dismounted. Aven chirped and jumped to climb up the harness that held Ruth's saddle in place, seemingly happy to wait with the bigger drakes. 

"Ruth, take care of the little one", Loki said to the sahali, who nodded in response, ignoring the babe currently chasing its own tail on her back. "I shall be back soon my children."

The library made Loki feel at home. No matter which realm you traveled to, libraries were always the same. Sure, this one was mostly made of black and white stone and gray wood and the books would have black pages, but at the core, it was the same. There were a few people reading books and writing down things by the large tables, but it was blessedly silent. 

"Well, go wild I guess", Tony said gesturing to all the books. "I wont bother you."

Which was a sneaky way to say he wanted to study on his own, which suited Loki as well. Starting with books about artifacts seemed too obvious, so Loki at first looked for a book on basic magic and history. He could move up from there.

________________

 

_Excerpts from 'History of Muspelheim', 'King Ratheas the Harbinger'_

_'Not much is known of the old kingdoms. Only a scare few written text survived the Age of Darkness (AD). All we have left, is stories passed from generation to generation, stories of grand cities, free flowing water and many kingdoms. The only evidence that survived of the old cities are the towers of The Last Keep.'_

_'Age of Aspiration (AA) is counted from the day king Ratheas found the Warlock's Eye. However there are those who believe it should be counted from the day of the Calling'_

_'When Ratheas Elgylson was two hundred years old, he found the weapon called Warlock's Eye. There is no written record of where he found the Eye or how he mastered it. All that is known, is that he withdrew from his family for 5 years, during which no-one knew his location and his family believed him dead. In the year 5AA, Ratheas Elgylson used the Eye to gather the eldran and drakes for a war against the fire giants.'_

_'In 108AA the country of Valkama was officially formed, and Ratheas was crowned king.'_

_'In 298AA, King Ratheon wed Elynna Yaseodottir, the daughter of one of his trusted advisors'_

_'The last year of the Age of Aspiration, saw many tragedies along the birth of new hope, King Ratheas' son, Wilras. His birth was shadowed by the death of his mother, who gave her life to bring him into the world and the disappearance of his father. King Wilras' maternal grandfather, Yaseo Ranison helped him until he was old enough to do it himself._

_After the crowning of the new king, the wise ones announced the movement to Age of Opulence.'_

_'King Wilras has been recorded to deny to give out any information about the location of the Eye.'_

________________________________________________

_Excerpts from 'Basics of magic for children'_

_'Each eldun has a magical core within them. In this core, you can feel your magical essence. Some have it great, some small, but all of us have it._

_Do not worry if you cannot find your core, this book includes excercises on how to identify and train your core.'_

_'Most eldun have the control of one element. This is called natural magic. The use of the word 'element' is widely argued, seeing as some eldran can control substances that can not be considered elements, such as plants and some use their elemental magic in a self contained fashion, such as transformation._

_For help in identifying your element, turn to page 17.'_

_'Some eldun can control more complex spells. The possibilities in there are limitless. It is believed that if you can imagine it, it can be made into a spell. Complex spells excert your core more.'_

_____________________

_Excerpts from 'Utility Crystals'_

_'Utility Crystals were first discovered during the Age of Darkness and are credited as being the sole reason the eldran survived until the modern ages.  
They have many uses, including but not limited to: light, temperature control, fluid transport, recording, communication, healing and sound enhancing._

_Blank Crystals can also be used to imbue with custom spells, so the possibilities are truly limitless.'  
_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's notes:
> 
> \- Paci crystals, amala and aja-pak are all illegal narcotics (No worries, this fic will not have drug use)
> 
> \- fra-ciena = Respectful way to address an older woman. (gam-ciena for younger women)
> 
> \- I see Asgard as a slightly homophobic place. Not as one where people will call you names (That's too unproper and Asgardians are unproper) but as a place where the whole idea of homosexuality being a legit thing and not a quirk or passing interest is foreign. Which, can be a lot worse. You wont be called names (most likely) but people will belittle you and not take you seriously. Well, Asgard is like this for the purposes of this fic at least.
> 
> \- sar-ciena = Respectful way to address a man. (Pa-ciena for an old man)
> 
> \- Just like dogs or cats, drakes have breeds. Isth - east, tueh - north, gao - west, punfel - south, mauw - large, muhsi - medium, sach - small. Hybrids are possible, but usually drake takes to just one of their parents.
> 
> \- Ruth's name comes from Ruthenium. Ruthenium is a chemical element with symbol Ru and atomic number 44. It is a rare transition metal belonging to the platinum group of the periodic table. Like the other metals of the platinum group, ruthenium is inert to most other chemicals. (Wikipedia) (Are you guys seeing my pattern?)
> 
> \- Note that I've added bonding and soul bonds to the tags. Just how relevant that'll be, we'll see wont we.
> 
> \- If I counted right, the date at the end of this chapter is 149.2846 AO. Meaning it's the year 2846 AO (Age of Opulence) 149 is the day, they have no months.
> 
> Is that all? Not sure, ask if anything is unsure, I'm off to bed!
> 
> EDIT:  
> I realized I made a mistake, Aven is an isth-hasit, not tueh-hasit. I've corrected it now.


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay!
> 
> Not exactly sure when next chapter will be posted, seeing as it is my birthday this weekend.
> 
> Also thank you sooooo much to anyone who read, commented and gave a kudos, I appreciate it sooo much!
> 
> Oh and I made a tumblr for my fic stuffs for anyone interested. It will have random fandom related things and my sketches of characters and stuff.
> 
> http://orangehollow.tumblr.com
> 
> I did task a few of my friends to draw characters and stuff for me :P

Loki scratched the base of his horn, staring at the books he had collected at the table he was working at. No book gave him much information about the Warlock's Eye.   
The only thing all books seemed to agree on, was that king Wilras most likely knew where it was. So, his only option seemed to be to get an audience with the king. But how could a stranger just walk in to the royal palace.

To see the king, he needed a good lie. From his studies he had learned that there was multiple reasons to see the king. He right away discarded ideas like the royal court, highest court of law in this country. You'd have to commit a horrible act in order to get there. Or just be accused of one... it could work... No. 

Swearing in to service would have too many soldiers present, although, if he became a guard at the royal palace, he might be able to sneak in the kings chambers...

There was also the possibility of walking in as an ambassador from Asgard, but Loki wasn't sure how much damage Thor had done on his visit there.

Maybe he was coming at this the wrong way. Who was allowed to see the king in Asgard? 

Lady Sif and the warrior's three. They were allowed to see the king on a regular basis, because they were friends with Thor. 

Loki got up and went to find a book with more information about the royal family. When he returned to his table, Tony was gone from his. Shrugging he sat down and started reading again.

King Wilras had three sons and one daughter. The daughter seemed un-attached. Maybe he could woo the princess... That was one possibility. Princess Welea was rather young though, only 200 years old.

Tony still wasn't back. Sighing Loki got up and started to look for his friend. Becu was still outside, which meant the smith was somewhere inside the building. While Loki was out, he decided to feed both of their drakes.

 

____

 

Upstairs there was a collection of private study rooms. After interrupting three angry looking old men in their rooms, he finally found his eldun in one of them.

Tony was sitting on the floor next to a wall, as if he had been leaning on the wall and slid down to sit. His knees were brought up, his head resting on them. He had his arms around himself, like a scared child and his fists were squeezed so tight his knuckles were white.

"Oh Tony", Loki whispered and closed the door behind him. Tony's head snapped up and he glared at Loki for a long while before sighing in defeat and lowering his head back to his knees. Surprisingly, he wasn't crying. Just very upset. "What is wrong my friend?"

With slow steps, giving Tony enough time to protest, he walked over to the other man. When Tony didn't say anything, he knelt in front of the eldun. Something was very wrong and Loki hated not being able to help. This was his friend, someone he cared about even though he wasn't sure why.

"I... I got some bad news", Tony said quietly, voice mumbled. "I can't talk about it."

They both had their secrets, too many secrets. Loki sighed and slowly wrapped his arms around the smith's shoulders. Tony's breathing hitched and he stilled, but after a few seconds, during which neither of them moved, he slowly shifted, straightening his legs between Loki's and wrapping his arms around the sorcerer's stomach. They stayed like that for a while. Loki on his knees, his hands around Tony's shoulders, his face pressed to the eldun's hair and Tony hugging Loki back, his face pressed to the Aesir's stomach.

It was very intimate and Loki felt like he was losing something. He couldn't remember the last time he had hugged someone like this, held them in his arms for comfort without any ulterior motive.

"I can't talk about it", Tony repeated quietly, sounding for all the realms, like he wanted to talk about it.

"I know. You do not have to", Loki answered as quietly. He gently ran his hand down Tony's back. "Just know that I am here for you."

"Thank you", Tony said with a sigh. Then he chuckled lowly. "You know, it's rather a cliché to use the private room in a library for things other than studying."

Loki rolled his eyes and leaned back a little, flicking at the base of Tony's horn. 

"That is not what is happening here", Loki said, going for a stern voice that turned in to a laugh when he saw the pout Tony aimed at him. 

"Aww come on Rain, I thought we were having a moment here", the smith said, struggling to keep the pout on his face and not grin like an idiot.

"Yes, but the moment was me comforting you, nothing else", Loki said with a small shake of his head. A devilish grin spread on Tony's face. This wasn't good.

"Yet, you haven't let go of me", the eldun said nodding down to where they were both still holding on to each others.

"Well, I..."

Loki meant to let go, he really did, but there was something in Tony's eyes. A fire burned in them, and suddenly everything was hot. Loki felt like a drowning man, he was falling in too deep.

This man... this man knew half of what he said what lies. This man still accepted him. Loki felt more welcome in his arms than he had ever felt in Asgard.

Intellectually, he knew he must have leaned down. Tony wouldn't have been able to reach him if he hadn't, but he had no recollection of doing that. All he knew, was Tony's lips were on his own. A slow soft dance that made Loki want to sob. He had never kissed anyone because he wanted to. He was a prince, he had no luxury for those feelings. He only kissed people to get something else from them. He wanted nothing from Tony, other than the man himself. He wanted this, the gentle movement against his lips, the warm hands on his back...

But there was no way he could have this. He would leave, sooner or later. Return to his life in Asgard. Besides, if it really came down to wooing the princess, he couldn't do that if he was with Tony. He couldn't do that to Tony, hurt him like that.

Loki curled his fists in to Tony's horns and pushed back gently. Tony looked at him with concern and confusion in his eyes.

"Tony, I can not", he said with an uneven voice, and norns did it hurt to say that. Tony just sighed and let go of Loki. The sorcerer wanted to scream, tell the smith to fight, not give up so easily, not let Loki be a coward. Instead he smiled in apology and stood up. "For what it's worth, I am sorry."

Tony snorted and shook his head, but smiled at the Aesir in the end.

"Lucan, it's fine, you don't need to explain anything to me", he said, his smile turning sad. "I'm sorry too. But, you're my friend, so don't worry, I won't pursue you."

Tony got up, dusting his trousers and smiling brightly. It was easy to tell that it was fake and it pained Loki. It hurt, burned inside him. He was quite sure he was making a mistake.

"Well, shall we go back to studying", the eldun asked with a smirk, a little more real this time. "Technically neither of us has booked a private study room, so we should get out of here before an angry librarian attacks us."

Tony shuddered and started herding Loki out. The Aesir just snorted, but obeyed non the less.

"Oh no, I'm serious. Library workers are always ancient, pissed off like an aswyn shat on their horns and I swear they know how to do your... teleport thing. They always appear out of nowhere", Tony chattered as they headed back in to the main hall. "Speaking of, you still have to teach me how to do that. This evening?"

"Yes, this evening", Loki said with an amused tone. It was nice, Tony speaking like nothing had happened.

 

_______________

 

Loki decided to read about the wildlife of Muspelheim next. About the plants, the lizards, the drakes... There were many different kinds of drakes, the smallest of which were sach-aswyr and the largest, the mauw-sahali. By now, Loki had seen each type of drake, except for the mazdi, which lived in the waters underground. From the description it sounded like an eel with arms to the Aesir.

Dragons were much larger and not actually counted in drakes, for dragons were intelligent beings, that lived in the mountain range called The Dragon's Spine. During the war, the dragons had teamed up with the eldran to fight against the fire giants, but since then they have withdrawn, with the promise to help with future wars as long as they were left alone. Only one dragon remained with the eldran, Shavel. Shavel was an albino dragon, runt in the eyes of the other dragons. King Ratheas had taken him under his protection, fearing he wouldn't survive out in the mountains, and he now lived in the capital under king Wilras' care.

Loki was very interested to see the dragon. Dragons were told to have tremendous magic, but rarely even spoke to people. That did make the sorcerer wonder, if king Ratheas used the mind controlling power of the Wizard's Eye on the dragons...

"Rain, it's getting late", Tony said, settling a hand on Loki's shoulder, making him jump slightly. "They are about to close the library for the night."

Loki stood up, his joints protesting from sitting down for so long. An old, no ancient woman, was staring at them while tapping her foot impatiently as they returned all the books to where they belonged.

Their drakes were still where they had left them, Aven now balancing on top of Becu's head like some sort of traveling act. Ruth was watching the other two drakes like a worried mother ready to step in if needed.

"B, don't break the baby, please", Tony said to his drake and held his arms up towards the two drakes. Becu started to lower his head, but apparently Aven found that boring, and instead jumped, landing on the eldun's chest with a loud thud. Had Tony not used his tail for balance, he would have fallen over.

"Aven, you have to be careful, you could have hurt Tony", Loki admonished the hasit as he went to pick her up. "You are not as small as you seem to think you are, my child."

Aven chirped at Tony in apology and climbed to Loki's shoulders. 

"It's fine Rain", the smith said with a smile as he fastened Becu's saddle. "Becu used to do that when he was a baby, and he was twice the size of Avy."

'Avy' happily agreed with the man, making the sorcerer just sigh as he checked on Ruth. The sahali seemed to share his opinion and Loki was quite sure she rolled her eyes.

They started making their way back to the tavern at a slow pace. Taed Morden was full of people again, except the crowd was different from the morning. There were less children now but more chattering adults with music and singing flowing from houses they passed.

"Did you find out anything about your crystal?" Loki asked, uncomfortable with the silent that was stretching between them. Tony sighed and shook his head.

"The library doesn't seem to have anything I don't already know, about what I'm looking for", the smith said with a grimace. That was a clever way to word it. He wasn't lying, but he also wasn't directly to Loki's question.

"So, you are not any closer to solving the mystery of your crystal then", Loki tried again. If only he could catch Tony in a lie, that might tell him more about what the eldun was doing, exactly.

"No, I'm not any closer to solving my mystery", the smith answered with a smirk on his lips. That was rare, usually people only got mad at Loki when he was trying to get them caught in a lie. And he was evading again.

"But, you do know something about the crystal", Loki stated, observing his friend. Tony seemed awfully amused by all this.

"Yes I know many things about the crystal", he said, measuring his words carefully.

"However, do you know everything there is to know about the crystal?" Loki asked, making the eldun grimace. Had Loki won? Tony bit his lip for a few seconds, before smiling again.

"I do not believe one person can know everything there is to know about anything", he answered in a rather roundabout way. This was telling Loki a lot. Tony was not here for the crystal, if he was, he would have answered directly.

"Yes, but do you truly need to learn more about the crystal?" the Aesir asked with a wicked grin. From the glare he got in answer, he knew he had won. The glare turned in to pout, making Loki laugh in delight.

"Pout not my friend, not many could have even played with me, let alone realize I was playing them", he said with laughter still clear in his voice. He wanted to add 'after all, they call me the God of Lies', but couldn't. Tony couldn't know his true identity. The smith just sighed and shook his head.

"I can't tell you what I'm really doing here", he said with an apologetic voice.

"Worry not, for I am not asking", Loki answered. No he wasn't asking, not right now, but Tony was stupider than Loki thought if he didn't know the sorcerer would find the answer in the end. Tony just turned back to his pouting, pulling another round of laughter from Loki's lips.

 

____________________

 

They ate dinner at the tavern when they arrived. This time they got mazdi, the drake that lived in the water with a berry sauce. It didn't quite taste like fish, though it did have a taste similar to seafood in the other realms. As they were eating, the old woman from the first night sat down with them and introduced herself as Faeli.

"How are you two boys liking Taed Morden?" she asked with a warm smile.

"It is very beautiful", Loki answered honestly. "and the people are very kind."

"Yes, eldran always help those who deserve it", Faeli stated nodding her head. Loki wasn't sure what she meant by 'deserved'. "Are people not kind in your realm?"

Loki cast an alarmed look at Tony, who just shrugged, just as confused. So Tony hadn't told the old woman anything.

"Oh, don't look so scared, child", Faeli said with dim amusement in her voice. "I am very old, I can see in your core what you truly are."

Loki nodded slowly and swallowed. Did the old woman know exactly who he was? Did she know he was a prince of Asgard?

"I was a healer during the dark ages, a few of your people came to this realm before the All-Father forbid it", the old woman said, confusing the sorcerer. Travel wasn't forbidden, people just didn't want to travel to Muspelheim. Maybe it was best not to tell that to the old lady.

"You were a healer?" Tony asked suddenly, obviously interested. "You... you are a priestess. I thought all priestesses were..."

Tony stopped short, eyes snapping to the old woman's cropped horns and then away. The old woman placed her hand over Tony's and smiled gently at him. Tony looked very... small. Even though the woman was short, she made Tony look young and innocent, like a little boy. Then she turned to look at Loki and saw his confused expression.

"My grandmother was a healer in one of the old kingdoms", Faeli explained. "After the kingdoms fell, she escaped with a few other healers. Together they formed the Order of Light, meant to bring some hope in to the dark ages. They carried with them knowledge from the old kingdoms, that was lost when the fire giants attacked. When my mother was born, she was taught the secrets by the priestesses, as was I when I was born."

Faeli took a deep breath and touched the uneven edge where her horn was cut off. 

"Fire giants may not seem very smart, but they are not stupid", the old woman continued. "During the war, they realized the value of the Order. They started focusing on us, killing us, capturing us. They would torture us, trying to get us to reveal our secrets."

Faeli had a far off look in her eyes. 

"I saw my order fall", she said quietly, almost impossible to hear over the sounds of the tavern. "I was the last one alive and I would have died, but king Ratheas saved me. I will never forget that sight. His black and blue wings turned red from the blood. He stood over me, protected me even though he was badly hurt."

The woman shook her small body, as if to shake away the bad memories. Both Loki and tony were at a loss, not knowing what to do.

"Well, when I had a son, I taught him what I had learned and now we are both teaching his daughter", the old woman said with a much cheerier voice again. "Dayice is a little bit slow to learn, but she's getting there. So, are you boys staying for long?"

Tony and Loki shared a look, before the eldun answered.

"I'm afraid I will have to head to the next city soon", Tony said with an apologetic smile, avoiding Loki's eyes. "The library here doesn't have what I need."

Tony was leaving. Was this where they parted? Sure Loki had to head to the capital, so it wasn't like he was staying either... Could they travel together?

"Oh, where are you heading next?" Faeli asked with an interested voice. 

"I'm going to Mournstead next, I'm not sure about Lucan", Tony answered, looking at Loki hopefully. If Loki remembered right, Mournstead was on the way to Red Water.

"Mournstead sounds good to me", the Aesir answered with a smile. He was glad he could continue traveling with Tony. Too glad. It probably would have been better to go their separate ways but... Tony was his guide here. Besides, he didn't even have any money. He needed Tony, it was more logical to travel together.

The problem with being the liesmith, you knew when you were trying to lie to yourself.

"Oh, I had some people come through yesterday", Faeli suddenly exclaimed happily. "They were on their way to a wedding in Mournstead. Maybe you will get to see it."

Someone called Faeli from the kitchen and the old woman got up, bidding them good night.

"So, we continue traveling together?" Tony asked, not even bothering to cover up the hopefulness in his voice. Loki nodded and smiled at his friend. This was not going to end well. "Awesome, now come on, you promised to teach me your trick."

Tony took their plates and went to return them to the kitchen, telling Loki to go on ahead. It was slightly suspicious, but Loki let it be, heading upstairs to his room. 

 

_____

 

Loki had put Aven to sleep on the bed and shed the outermost layer of his clothes by the time Tony came to the room. He was positively vibrating with energy.

"Okay, how do we start? And how far can you... teleport? And how often? Can you do it with people? Or while carrying something? Just imagine, teleporting both you and Ruth to the back of a fire giant."

Oh, this was going to be horrible. 

"Empty your pockets and sit down, Tony", Loki said, sitting on the floor with his legs crossed and gestured for Tony sit across from him. "Now you need to calm down. As for your questions, everything is possible, but you may end up exhausting yourself if you try too much too fast. For that reason we are starting small and going slow."

Tony made a face but said nothing, just copied Loki's pose after putting the things in his pocket, including the sphere, on the bed.

"Now to teleport, you must have a perfect control of your seidr, your core", he explained to his student. "The way you do it is that you move your core from one place to another and anything cloaked with your magic will follow it. You have to be extremely careful, or you might accidentally hurt yourself by going inside a wall or not properly enveloping all of you in your magic."

Tony shuddered, probably imagining it.

"Now, to begin, close your eyes and find you core", the Aesir instructed, earning an eye roll from his friend. "Yes, that is the easy part. Next you have to let some of your raw magic out and envelop your whole body in it. I will test it you, you will be able to feel my magic, are you alright with that?"

Tony nodded and closed his eyes. It was weird that he trusted Loki so much, gave him access to his body and seidr so readily. Then again, Loki was putting himself in as much danger as Tony was in. 

After observing the smith for a while, Loki closed his eyes and let his magic out. Slowly he closed in on his friend, gasping when he found Tony.

Tony's seidr was powerful. It wasn't as intricate as Loki's, he didn't have as much control over it, but the eldun's seidr was full of raw, untamed power. 

He felt Tony's magic examining him in return and he smiled. He had never been able to do this before, never trusted anyone enough. Why did he trust Tony so easily? Sure, he had better control, so he could easily defend himself, if it came down to it.

"You are slipping", Tony said with an amused voice, making Loki's cheeks heat up with embarrassment.

"My apologies", Loki said quietly. "Never has anyone opened themselves to me like this. It is... confusing and... wonderful."

"I trust you", Tony answered and Loki could feel it in his seidr that he was telling the truth.

"Oh but you shouldn't."

"I know."

Loki took a deep breath and let the tendrils of his magic dance over Tony. The other man was struggling sligtly to keep his magic evenly over his whole body.

"If you were to teleport now, you would lose your right knee and the tip of your tail", Loki informed his student. "Also... I can feel your wings. I do not know how it works when they are not visible, but I think you might also have to cloak them."

"Oh, that's... Yeah I don't want to lose any of those things", Tony said and started to fix his cloaking. After a while he let out a grumble, and Loki felt a gust of wind on his face. He opened his eyes a fraction to see Tony's wings around them. The light filtered red through them, making everything seem surreal. "Sorry, I just can't figure out how to cloak them when they're drawn in."

Loki shook his head slowly, still looking at the wings.

"It is fine, what ever is the easiest for you when you are starting out", he said, tempted to reach out and touch one of the wings. He had only seen them in middle of a fight before. 

"You're slipping", Tony teased and Loki flicked at his wing in revenge. The eldun yelped and opened his eyes, wings fluttering. Loki understood then why the eldran kept their wings hidden most of the time. It wasn't just because it was hard to walk around with such large wings. Just like on birds or the tail of a dog, they portrayed your emotions if you weren't careful. Too bad Loki wasn't good at reading those signals. Yet. Tony brought his left wing closer to the Aesir, pushing Loki over with a sure but gentle movement. "You know it's rude to touch someone's wing without permission."

Loki just scoffed at Tony's smirk and the clear lust in his eyes. Obviously the sight of Loki on his back was appealing to his friend.

"Tony", Loki said in a warning tone. "I think that is enough for now. Just practice that on your own and tell me when you think you have mastered it." 

The eldun just raised his hands in a sign of surrender and used his wings to stand up.

"I'll see you in the morning, Rain", Tony said withdrawing his wings and collecting his things from the bed. "Good night."

"Good night", Loki answered and sighed as the door closed behind the other man. He needed a bath.

 

_____________________________

 

The warm water felt amazing. this time Loki had left Aven on the bed. He didn't want the baby here for this. It was bothersome and Loki wished it wasn't so but... the feel of Tony's seidr and the sight of the other man on top of him, with Loki on his back, Tony's wings around them like a protective cocoon...

With shame Loki let his hand wander lower. He shouldn't be doing this, he shouldn't be thinking about his friend in this way when he touched himself... but, for all he knew, Tony was doing the exact same thing in his own room.

And wasn't that an enticing thought. 

Loki let his fingers gently slide up and down his shaft, teasing himself. He imagined it would be wild, biting and scratches, witty quips and banter, laughter... and curses, if it was pure lust this would be fine. If he wanted Tony purely for his body it would be fine. That was somewhat accepted in Asgard. But Loki wanted Tony for his mind. The beauty of his seidr, the way he actually kept up with Loki so far, didn't seem to mind his lies. The man actually lied almost more than Loki did. He was a mystery and a challenge and above all, he wasn't dull.

So yes, Loki was interested in the eldun, but there were many reasons why it could never work. They probably wouldn't travel together for long, in the end, Loki would have to return to Asgard to be a prince who couldn't have a male consort, there was a chance Loki would have to woo the princess of this nation and what would hurt the most, is that it would be real. And Loki wasn't sure he would know how to pick up those pieces when it was done.

But for now, he would allow himself this, allow himself to dream.

And so he gripped himself tighter, moving his hand up and down his cock, swiping his thumb over the tip. He moaned quietly, imagining it was Tony, that the man was over him, biting his neck, kissing him fervently, hands roaming, touching every inch.

His knuckles were white, grasping the side of the tub as he came, biting his lip not to call out too loud. Not to call out a name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> \- I added UST and sexual content tags. That seemed appropriate
> 
> \- Dark ages lasted about 7 000 - 10 000 years, Age of Aspiration about 500 years and Age of Opulance has lasted for 2846 so far.
> 
> \- The eldran technically can live forever like the Aesir, but they live in a very dangerous place. Especially before the war, when they didn't have the cities protecting them, people didn't live for a very long time. That is why most people are under 4000 years old.
> 
> \- I made a very crude map of the world here:  
> http://40.media.tumblr.com/45f4c68fe47454e9656c5d409058c236/tumblr_o150r4GUYj1v5arjho1_500.png


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it has been so long since the last chapter 

Loki woke, as was becoming the custom, to Aven licking his face.

"Am I right in assuming you will be doing this every morning, my child?" he asked the hasit, getting an enthusiastic yip as an answer. "Very well, I am awake. We shall go down to the tavern to break the fast, I am afraid I am running low on food."

With Aven on his shoulder Loki arrived down stairs. There was no-one else there yet, except a tall man with messy blond hair and green eyes standing behind the counter. His horns were covered with leather straps, but the small parts Loki could see were very light brown. He looked a lot like Dayice and a little like Faeli, making Loki think this was the son Faeli had mentioned. 

"Good morning, sar", the man said, nowhere near as enthusiastic as his daughter. He seemed more reserved, but remained polite.

"Good morning", Loki answered with a smile. "You must be Faeli's son. Your mother is a remarkable woman."

Loki was hoping this man would be willing to talk more about the healing, the war, the order, or at least Muspelheim in general. The man, however, just grunted like he was not happy to hear about his mother.

"Yes, well, she's not here", the man said sighing. "That old crone thought it'd be a good idea to travel at her age and took Dayice with her."

"Oh, I see", Loki said slowly. Clearly the man didn't like his old mother traveling, with his daughter no less.

"I'll get you some food in just a bit, sar", the man said gruffly. "Just sit down."

Loki nodded and hurried to sit down at the table furthest from the counter. Obviously this man didn't want to talk. So Faeli and Dayice had left suddenly? Why? Wasn't it dangerous for the two of them to travel? Then again, Faeli had been in the war, surely she knew how to fight. And maybe Dayice was trained too? Loki knew women could be mighty warriors, any man who underestimated Lady Sif was in for an uncomfortable surprise. In Asgard however, just like Loki himself, Lady Sif was the exception, not the rule.

"Morning Rain, Avy", Tony said with a sleepy voice as he sat down next to Loki and laid his head on the table. Ah, good timing. Loki wanted to start asking his questions to avoid talking, or even thinking, about yesterday.

"Good morning, Tony", he greeted the man, just as Aven jumped to curl up on the man's neck. "Tony, tell me, are the women in this realm warriors like the men are?"

Tony tried to lift his head from the table, but could only do so partially with the weight of Aven on his shoulders. He aimed his sleepy stare Loki, obviously confused with the question.

"You know, I'm starting to very much not like your realm", he said with a yawn. "Yes, women are warriors just as often as men. The leader of the Sentals is a woman. Scariest woman I've ever met..."

Loki frowned at his friend, but didn't ask anything. Tony was smart, he should know by now when he needed to explain something. Also, Loki wasn't going to acknowledge the comment on his realm, even though he was slowly starting to agree, the more he saw of this realm.

"Oh, Sentals, the uh... guards. We are the highest keepers of law, working directly for the king and well, commander Nenadya, of course", Tony said putting his head back on the table. Loki didn't miss the use of 'we'.

"So you are a Sental, then?" Loki said humming. In that case, Tony most likely wasn't a criminal. Most likely. Loki wondered how hard it would be to get in to the Sentals. Though...

Tony worked directly under the king, that meant he might have access to the palace. Loki could use him... No. Even the thought made his throat constrict and he had to swallow. Tony was the first friend he had ever made and he swore, right then and there, that he would never use him like that.

"Yeah", Tony said slowly and from the little Loki could see of his face, he could see a grimace. "I shouldn't talk to you so early in the morning. I didn't mean to say that."

"Is it a big secret then?"

"No. Yes. No, I'm just not here as a Sental so it's kind of irrelevant", Tony said, his tone lowering when the man brought them food. Loki made a mental note that it was easiest to get information out of the other man when he had just woken up.

"My mother prepared some travel food for you two before she left", the man said, laying a bundle wrapped in leather on the table. Without saying anything further, the man turned and left. Tony slowly sat up, forcing Aven to relocate to his shoulders. He didn't look at all surprised to hear Faeli had left. Interesting. 

"You knew Faeli had left", Loki stated and Tony just shrugged awkwardly, Aven bouncing up and down. That was one thing Loki liked about Tony. He lied, a lot, but he didn't try to lie to Loki when there was no need, or when Loki already knew the truth. Though he did not volunteer any information as he dug in to his food. "Oh, you are making me guess, is that it?"

Tony just smirked at him, putting some of his bread in his mouth as a statement.

"Very well", Loki said and observed his friends for a while. "Yesterday, you did not come in to my room right away. You stopped to talk with Faeli, either she told you then that she was leaving, or you told her to leave."

"How do you know I didn't go see her after leaving your room", Tony asked with an amused smile. A devilish grin spread on Loki's lips.

"Because I know exactly what you did when you left my room", he said, unable to keep his voice from lowering in to a more intimate tone. It was a bit amusing how the smith's eyes quickly went between Loki's body, his mouth and then back to his eyes. He looked like a child caught sneaking food from the kitchens. Loki was correct then. And curse the norns, didn't Loki decide not to think or talk about it? Still, it was worth for seeing the way Tony licked his lips, obviously unsure. Oh, he must have been wondering what Loki did when he was left alone in the room. 

"Now..." Loki said clearing his voice. Where was he again? "You know where she had gone. Does it have something to do with you being a Sental?"

Tony sighed, but got back in the game, when it seemed like Loki wouldn't talk more about last night.

"That's possible", Tony said with a pout. He didn't like Loki having the upper hand. 

"Does it have something to do with..." Loki started but paused then. Would it be okay to ask about the news Tony had received? It made Loki angry that the reason he was hesitating, was that he didn't want to upset his friend, not because he was afraid of not getting information. Since when did he actually care enough? He cared about Thor, but he had never been afraid to hurt Thor's feelings.

"That's possible", the sental said a small smile on his lips. Curse him, how well could he read Loki? Well, at least Tony wasn't upset.

"When you say you are not here as a Sental, what exactly do you mean?" Loki asked. "If you were here as a Sental, what would be different?"

Tony hummed, chewing on the last piece of his bread.

"Well for one, I'd be wearing my uniform", Tony said, starting to feed Aven some pieces of meat. "Technically, our identities are supposed to be secret, so our uniform covers most of our faces. It's to stop our families from being targeted."

"And your family?"

"If this is your "oh so subtle" way of asking if I'm married or have children, you don't need to worry", Tony said, looking at him with a serious look on his face. "I don't cheat. Ever. If I had someone, I wouldn't have kissed you."

Oh lovely, Tony was being straight about it. 

"I never thought you would", Loki said quietly, but didn't deny wanting confirmation. "So why did you tell me that you are a Sental? You do not know anything about me."

"It... kind of slipped out", Tony said and sighed. "I like you. And I do know some things about you. You're not the only one who knows how to observe."

The sorcerer must have looked incredulous, since Tony just laughed and shook his head.

"I know your name is not Lucan", Tony started, and fair enough, but that was easy. "Lying comes naturally to you, you are better at it than me, and I'm good. You have a noble upbringing." That information made Loki freeze, but Tony just waved his hand. "You didn't mind me using money on you. Someone who grew up with little money, would have reacted differently and been more worried about the amounts. That, and your manners, made me guess that you are some sort of noble and your reaction confirmed it."

Oh curse this man! Loki wanted to kiss him.

"You are very intelligent", the Sental continued. "And you're used to being surrounded by people who are... not. I think that is why I can read you better than you thought. You are not used to other smart people. You enjoy it though. I'm guessing that even with all the lies, this is the most "you" that you have been for a long time. Your relationship with your family is complicated, especially with your brother, but you love them. The way you sounded when you asked me if I had magic, tells me that it's not common where you come from and you having it is against some sort of social norms. I'm guessing your family doesn't accept it, at least not completely. You said that you are from Vanaheim, which is a lie. Not that it matters too much to me, seeing as all I really know about the other realms are their names and stories that are most likely just that, stories."

Loki swallowed, unable to do anything but stare at the man. No-one had ever dissected him like this, and he was both terrified and turned on. Tony leaned closer, tilting his head slightly.

"You are interested in me", the eldun said with a dark look in his eyes. "But you are scared to act on it. I'm not sure if it's because I'm a man and it's not allowed where you come from, because you don't know how long you'll stay here, you think you don't deserve happiness or for some other reason. I'm guessing you're not used to getting what you want, not when it comes to things that really matter, so you think you don't deserve it or some shit like that. It makes me angry, that you can't see yourself clearly. Someone has made you think you're not good enough as you are, and I never want to meet that..."

Tony took a deep breath and stood up. He was angry. He was angry for Loki's sake. Sure, Thor had defended Loki many times, often and loudly against people who had said something Thor imagined to be a slight. But this felt so much more... personal.

"Finish your food. I'll go pay and then we'll head to Mournstead", the Sental said and sighed then, looking pained. "Sorry, that was... I'm sorry."

With that he walked away, leaving Loki alone to stare at the table in amazement. All of that should have made Loki angry, and in some way it did, but mostly it made him want to weep. Did the norns really hate him so? Why had they done this? Why hadn't he been born here on Muspelheim, instead of Asgard? Why was it that the only person who could see _him_ , was from another realm? A realm Loki was going to rob. Maybe... maybe he could stay here. Renounce his title as a prince of Asgard, stay here.

But that was laughable. He was going to, what, stay in a foreign realm just because of a man he had only known for a couple of days? Or because this might just be the only realm that could ever truly accept him?

No, no they wouldn't. Not when they found out why he was here.

Just how pitiful had he become?

He couldn't stay. If Thor became the king, who was to say he wouldn't invade Muspelheim. After all, Thor didn't take humiliation well, and this was the realm that had bested him. Muspelhim would not be able to stand against the forces of Asgard. Loki _had_ to get the Warlock's Eye and take it to his father. Then, even if Thor was crowned king, he would have no reason to attack Muspelheim.

The door to the tavern opened, the creak bringing Loki back in to the present. Where was Aven? With Tony?

Loki got up, not feeling like finishing his food and walked towards Faeli's son who was standing behind the counter, going over some papers.

"Excuse me, sar", Loki said, his voice sounding only little off. "Where did my friend go?"

"The stable, I think", the man said not looking up. "Leave your key in the bowl."

Loki put his key in the bowl that already had Tony's, glad he hadn't left anything in his room. 

___

Tony was, indeed in the stables attached to the tavern. The eldun hadn't noticed Loki come in, so the sorcerer stayed in the doorway, observing his friend as the man saddled Becu. Aven was sitting on the sahali's back, playing with the straps.

"Avy, sweetie, you are really not making this any easier", Tony lectured the hasit. Aven just yipped happily in answer and started to gnaw on the back of the saddle. "Oh you little rascal. Rain isn't teaching you any manners, is he?"

"Well, the tamer did say she thinks both of us as her parents", Loki answered, making the eldun shriek and jump around. "So don't just blame me."

Aven chirped in agreement, making Loki chuckle a bit. Tony smiled, but he was tense, nervous. Loki walked closer, until he was right in front of the eldun, and put his hand on Tony's shoulder. He needed to clear this. He didn't want to be a source of tension for Tony.

"I am not mad", Loki told his friend. Tony looked at him with doubt in his eyes. "The fact that you can see all that, see me... it makes me happy, though it should not. But know that I am not angry, I would never be angry at you for being observant. As for the other..."

Loki swallowed dryly. Norns, what could he say?

"It is.. all of it", Loki said quietly. The sentinel nodded, not saying anything. "And I am so sorry. You have no idea how much I wish I could..."

Loki sighed and leaned his forehead on Tony's. 

"It's okay", Tony said and lifted his hand to gently rub behind Loki's horn. "I told you, I understand and I wont pursue you. I will wait for you to make your decision, at least for now"

Loki swallowed around the lump in his throat, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. 

"Okay, it's going to be maybe four or five days to Mournstead, so we should head out."

________

They gave their names to the guards on their way out and soon their sahali's were running at full speed towards Mournstead. The scenery they passed was breathtaking.

To the north of them, was The Lost. A wasteland of black and red. South of them, was the Demon's Rest, a lake of glowing red lava so large Loki couldn't see the other side. Ahead, to the west, was The Dragon's Spine, a large mountain range with sharp peaks and trees with white leaves growing on the sides, giving an illusion of snow. 

Between all that, now that they were out of The Lost, the ground was partially covered in silver grass, flowers of purple, yellow, orange and blue, and large trees, like old oaks, with white and silver leaves and black and gray trunks. Different trees had berries of different colors, making Muspelheim so much more colorful, than Loki had ever imagined.

Loki cast the spell to silence the wind again and steered Ruth slightly closer to Becu.

"The plants", he told his friend, like the eldun was supposed to understand. "Everyone thinks all of Muspelheim is like The Lost! But you have so much color!"

Tony laughed brightly, Loki's excitement catching. 

"It's just this area", Tony said with a smirk. "Pretty much everything outside of Valkama is like The Lost. We call that The Nothing. Only fire giants live there."

Loki hummed, remembering the story about the spirit and the son that was staring in to nothingness.

"Could you tell me another story?"

Tony hummed, thinking. 

"What kind do you want?"

"An interesting one?"

_________________

 

_A long time ago, there was a girl who was born without horns. At first her parents weren't worried thinking her a late bloomer. But when her horns didn't grow by the time she was five, they sought help, thinking something was wrong with their daughter._

_The wiseman of their small town said that she was cursed, doomed to bring destruction to them all. He told them to kill her or lock her away, but her parents couldn't. They loved her, even if she was wrong._

_They resorted to making her horns, from the horns of drakes. They thought they did good, but their daughter was miserable. The other children made fun of her and would pull on her fake horns until they fell. It was a small town and everyone knew what the wiseman had said. They all knew what the girl's lack of horns meant._

_So she took off the fake horns and ran away. In the dead of night, she drugged the gate guards' drinking water and slipped past them. She ran and she ran, until she couldn't run anymore. She found a big city, where people didn't look at her wrong for having no horns. In the big city it was understood, that there were people who would never grow horns and there was nothing wrong with them._

_The girl grew up, happy in her new home._

_Years later, the girl, now a woman, wanted to show her parents that there was nothing wrong with her, so she traveled back to the town she was born in._

_When she arrived however, she found the gates open. Inside, everyone was dead. The town was littered with skeletons. In her childhood home, she found two skeletons in her own room, trying to hide. The fake horns were on the table where she had left them the night she had ran away._

_The woman remembered the words of the wiseman, told to her when she was just a small child, too young to understand them._

_She would bring destruction upon them all._

_____

They camped at a small building, carved to the side of a mountain and covered with a spell to keep the wildlife out. Tony explained that there were multiple of these buildings between bigger cities, for travelers to rest in.

As they ate and settled down for the night, Loki couldn't help but wonder about the story Tony had told.

"It's a self-fulfilling prophecy", Loki said and Tony hummed in question at the sudden statement. "The story. Everyone in the town died, because when she ran away, she drugged the guards and possibly left the gate open."

Tony sat down on one of the beds in the small building and nodded, interested in seeing what conclusion Loki had come to.

"If the people in the town had simply accepted her, she would have never ran away", Loki explained, most likely needlessly. "The towns people hated her, because of the prophecy. So without the prophecy, the prophecy would not have come true."

"True", Tony agreed. "However, some people see a different meaning. They think she really was a monster and it's a lesson in listening to the wisemen. The wiseman told her parents to kill the daughter or lock her up, but they didn't. Instead they tried to make her fit in. That allowed the girl to escape and leave the gate unlocked."

Tony laid down and turned to look at Loki.

"I agree with you though", he said. "Some say it's a true story by the way. There's a small town called Kharu'na'aja in the south-west, near Larc Bost. The name can be translated to mean 'destruction of no horns'. If that really is true, I think the town brought it on themselves for treating a little girl like a monster."

"Kharu'na'aja", Loki repeated quietly. He wished he'd be able to visit the town some day.

"Good night, Lucan", Tony said after a short silence, yawning and closing his eyes. Loki waited for a long time, just staring at his friend and sighed then. 

"Loki", he whispered quietly, both hoping the eldun didn't hear him and wishing he did. 

______

For once, Loki didn't wake up to Aven licking his face. Instead he woke up to Tony cursing at the little hasit.

"Avy, I love you too, but stop licking my face", Tony was whining and begging the overly excited drake. "Tor'chira, get off me!"

Loki laughed at the man and the drake. It was a mistake, Aven saw that he was awake, and decided he was her next victim. 

"Aven, stop", Loki said with a commanding voice, and the hasit came to a halt an arm's reach away from him. She whimpered sadly, looking up at him with watery eyes. Could drakes even cry?

"Oh you monster, just cuddle her", Tony said with a pleading voice, as pathetic as Aven's. There was no winning this, Loki decided and opened his arms for Aven to crawl in to his lap.

"You are both horrible", Loki said, rubbing between Aven's shoulder blades. "And were you not just complaining about her?"

Tony just shrugged with an innocent smile, making Loki sigh. 

"Let us get ready for travel now, Tony."

"Yes, my lord!"

____

"So, what kind of story do you want to hear now?"

"Hmm... Do you have any real stories? I'd like to hear something that has really happened."

"Okay, sure... Do you want to hear about how prince Therieth saved prince Tristar's life?"

____

_When prince Tristar was born, he seemed to be a healthy baby boy. He had black hair, like his grandfather Wilras, dark horns like his mother. An unusual aspect to him, was that his eyes were white._

_And so, it was apparent from his birth, that he was blind._

_Eldran are people that believe in actions. No prince or princess will ever be admired for their rank alone. You have to prove your worth to earn the respect of the people._

_For prince Tristar, this was even harder. His father is the crown prince, and he is his father's oldest child. So one day, he will be the king. In Valkama, you can not be king if you do not have the respect of the people._

_So when prince Tristar was two hundred year old, he set out to prove himself. His uncle, prince Therieth who hadn't proved himself yet either, went with him. Under the guise of also seeking to prove himself, he went to protect his nephew._

_They traveled all the way to Larc Bost, not finding anything they could use to proof their worth. On their way to The Last Keep, they got attacked by a group of outlaws, eldran who do not accept king Wilras' rule. The group managed to catch them unawares and overpower them._

_The outlaws captured them, but when they found out who they were, they foolishly set prince Therieth free and said that he had to go back to Larc Bost, find the prettiest untouched maiden and bring her back to be sacrificed, or they would kill prince Tristar._

_Prince Therieth knew he alone was not strong enough to take on the outlaws, so he left. However, instead of bringing back an innocent girl, prince Therieth went to Larc Bost, bought a dress and disguised himself as a woman._

_He waited at the spot the outlaws had told him. When the outlaws came, he told them this:_

_"The prince came to Larc Bost, asked for a beautiful virgin maiden and told her to come here."_

_The outlaws, happy with their sacrifice, let prince Tristar go. They saw a young woman and a blind man and didn't see a threat. So this time, the two princes were able to surprise their captors. Both of them are powerful warriors, something the outlaws didn't see._

_And so, they were able to capture the outlaws in turn, and returned to Larc Bost, where prince Tristar told the story of his uncle saving his life, when he foolishly thought he could seek glory._

____

"So, prince Therieth is beautiful enough to pass as a woman", Loki asked with a frown, feeling bad for his fellow prince. 

"Well, the way he normally looks, I don't think anyone would mistake him for woman", Tony said shrugging. Was it not a bad thing for a man to look like a woman? "But, yeah, I guess he can pass as a woman."

"You know him then? You see him often" Loki asked, trying to keep his eyes on Tony, but it was hard with the drakes constantly jumping over obstacles. He was quite sure he saw Tony roll his eyes.

"All the Sentals live in the royal palace or near it", Tony said and then frowned, like he wasn't sure he should have said that. "Oh well, I'm sure you would have found that out sooner or later."

Loki wondered if becoming a Sental would be a good way to get close to the king. Most likely not. However, the Sentals sounded important. Important people tended to have help and it was much easier to become the help.

"The El you mentioned, is he like your squire?" Loki asked the eldun, who looked confused now. "I mean, like a servant. Takes care of your armor and weapons, makes sure you are battle ready..."

"I guess you could call El that", Tony said with a thoughtful look on his face. "Mostly he's my friend, but he does things servants do."

Loki was about to ask more, when both of the sahali's came to a sudden stop. Loki, who wasn't holding on to the saddle properly, got launched forward and he slammed in to Ruth's neck. He was disoriented for a few seconds, but when he looked up, there was a fire giant in front of them. 

"Fuck", Tony muttered next to him, standing up right there on Becu's back and spreading out his wings. The fire giant smirked and lunged forward, pulling its sword, that was the length of three men, cutting through the air with surprising speed. Without even really thinking about it, Loki teleported himself, Aven and Ruth to safety. He was now behind the giant, unsure if Tony was still okay.

"Protect Aven", Loki told Ruth, placing the baby on the saddle and jumping down. Both drakes seemed uncomfortable and slightly disoriented with the teleportation, but they would be safe, away from the giant. 

Loki teleported back closer to the giant, eyes fervently looking for Tony and Becu. Becu he found easily, running between the giants feet, looking for spots in it's skin that weren't on fire. 

The giant roared in frustration, sword cutting the air again. At first Loki thought it was swinging at nothing, but then he saw Tony. 

The eldun was flying in the air, large wings keeping him just outside of the giant's reach. Loki didn't wait any longer, pulling out his daggers and frantically searching for an exposed spot on the giant. It was covered almost completely in fire and had some sort of neck armor, so Loki couldn't do what he had seen Tony do to the first giant he had seen. He was afraid to use the full extent of his powers, unless absolutely necessary. For one, that would draw Heimdall's attention right away, even with the cloaking spells Loki always wore when he traveled alone.

Change of plans, he was going to be the distraction.

The sorcerer teleported to the giant's field of vision, pulling out a throwing knife and hurling it towards the giant's face, aiming for it's left eye. It's wild flailing at Tony moved it's head back just in time, so the knife only graced it's cheek, not really doing any damage. That wasn't the point though, the point was to distract the giant long enough, for Tony to do something. 

The eldun folded his wings, diving behind the giant, looking for a weak spots.

_'I need you to get him talking'_ , Tony's voice said inside the sorcerer's mind. It hadn't really crossed Loki's mind that Tony would know how to use telepathy. _'I need his mouth open.'_

The Aesir had no idea why his friend wanted that, but Loki was happy to provide.

"Oh, you are a slow beast", Loki taunted the giant. "Do you really believe you have a chance here?"

"You've got a mouth on you, imp", the giant said with a sneer. "You are going to scream when I roas-" Tony dove down again, this time in front of the giant. 

Before the giant could react, Tony threw something down it's throat. As the eldun attempted to make this a fly-by but wasn't fast enough as the giant's fist reacted by grabbing his right wing. Tony screamed in pain as a sickening crunch could be heard, immediately followed by a muted explosion. 

The fire in the giant's body died out, blood gushing out of it's mouth and it let go of Tony who had just lost the use of his right wing and was struggling to stay airborne. The giant's blood rained on Tony, with the giant itself starting to fall down. 

Loki watched it all with a feeling that time itself had slowed down. Tony was covered in blood, unable to fly properly and about to be crushed by the giant's falling body. The sorcerer only had a few seconds to act. He teleported up to his friend, wrapped his arms around the man, did his best to cloak all of Tony in the fraction of a second he had and teleported them away, to where Ruth and Aven were.

They crashed on the ground, with Tony on top of Loki. The air got knocked out from Loki's lungs and for a few seconds both of them were just laying there, gasping for air.

Then Tony moved off with a groan, to lay down on his stomach on the ground. Loki couldn't help the alarmed cry that escaped his lips when he saw the state of Tony's wing. It was bent unnaturally, the bones broken in several spots as well as severe burns clearly showing where the giant's grasp had been, causing Tony to writhe in pain.

"You idiot!" Loki yelled at the man. "Why did you do that! _What_ did you do?"

Tony chuckled, but it came out broken. There were tears in corner of his eyes and he was breathing heavy, almost gasping for air. Loki couldn't imagine how much it must have hurt. Both them and Becu were completely covered in blood now, and Loki hoped that the giant's blood wasn't toxic. Currently it only felt very warm. The blood also made it hard to see if Tony was bleeding.

"It was the ball. I blew it up inside him. Not my best idea, I give you that", Tony said with a shaky voice. "But I got him. Yay for me."

Curse this blasted idiot for making jokes at a time like this. Becu and Ruth were huddled together close to them, worried for Tony. Ruth was holding back Aven, who was fighting against the sahali, trying to get to the injured eldun. 

"Tony, what do I need to do?" Loki asked, his hands hovering over the broken wing. He had no idea how to take care of something like this. 

"Uhh... well, you need to set it", Tony said, and looked like he was going to throw up, even thinking about it. "Then, I guess after you set them tie them to my back. I think I... I might pass out."

Loki took a deep breath and summoned some wrapping and metal rods from his pocket dimension. 

"I am sorry", he said, hoping his voice didn't sound as panicked as he felt.

"Hey, hey, Loki it's fine", Tony said, and how could he be trying to comfort Loki right now? "This isn't the first time I've broken my wing. It'll be fine." Oh norns he was starting to slur slightly. "If I pass out, you have to get m' to Monnsted, okay? There's healer's there. In m' pocket, money crystals. Becu's saddle, m'p. Go north, follow rocks painted white."

Loki was barely following the man's rattles, but he nodded. Money in pocket, map in saddle bag, get to Mournstead, follow painted rocks north.

"Okay", Tony said and took a deep breath. "Do it."

___

It was a blessing when Tony did lose consciousness. His screams of agony brought tears to Loki's eyes and he kept apologizing over and over. Becu was answering Tony's cries making it all just that much more painful.

When the sorcerer finally managed to tie the wing to his friend's back, he was drenched in sweat. 

"Come here", he told the drakes. "Becu, I'm going to tie Tony to your back. After that, I'm going to teleport us as far north as I can see. I should be able to do that a few times, but after that, the two of you will have to run."

Getting Tony on Becu's back was slightly difficult, but with the help from Ruth he managed it. He got on Ruth's back, Aven sitting in front of him, and steered his sahali to stand right next to Becu, holding on to his wing.

"Here we go", He said quietly and focused on the furthest point he could see up north. If it was just him, this would have been very easy, but moving another person and three drakes was exhausting.

Still, he didn't stop. He did it again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Until he could barely stay on Ruth's saddle. He would have tried to teleport one more time, but the sahali jumped further away from Becu, so that Loki was unable to reach the other sahali.

"Very well Ruth", he said with an exhausted voice. "It is up to you two then."

With a chorus of yips from the drakes, they started running. 

____

They ran for hours, well into the night. Loki was nodding off in the saddle, exhausted to the bone but trying to stay awake. 

Tony was eerily quiet and Loki was actually starting to prefer the cries of pain.

A low growl from Becu drew his attention. Up ahead, in the distance, there was something approaching them. Loki ordered the sahalis to stop, jumping from Ruth's back to Becu's, using his own body to shield his friend. Tony was sweating, but his skin felt cold. He was shivering and his lips were moving soundlessly.

As the figure came closer, Loki saw that it was an eldun, riding a purple sahali. She was dressed in a uniform that was a mix of practical and ceremonial.

The hood and the mantle attached to it were black fabric with golden thread sewn in on the edges. The top most layer of the mantle fell just below her breast line, under it was a a brown leather vest, closed with many silver buckles and drawn tight over a long black cloak, that was possibly part of the mantle. The hood had cuts made for her four black horns to come out, and buckles to hold it in place around them. 

She stopped her sahali a small ways from them and jumped down, the light from the star shining on the black paldron's of her uniform and the large sword strapped to her back. Loki frowned, trying to understand the uniform. She was battle ready, with the pauldron's, greaves and bracers, but she was obviously supposed to also portray importance, supposed to catch people's attention. 

When she came closer, Loki saw that most of her face was covered with the high collar of her black undershirt.

"You are a Sental", Loki said, letting out a breath of relief.

"Yes", the woman said slowly. Her voice was low and there was a power to it. She was used to giving commands. "Why are you covered in blood, sar?"

Loki glanced down at himself, he had completely forgotten. Before he could answer however, blood-soaked Becu chirped at the woman.

"Are you... Becu!" The woman drew her broadsword, stepping closer with the tip pointed at Loki. Lightning danced along the blade, making crackling sounds and filling the air with the smell of ozone. "Get down from the sahali, slowly."

Loki shook his head, but raised his hands in surrender. This woman knew Becu, maybe she knew Tony? They were both Sentals after all.

"My friend, he is hurt. We got attacked by a fire giant and it broke his wing", Loki explained quickly before the woman could attack. "He said that he's one of you, he's a Sental. You have to help him!"

It was comical how the woman's black eyes widened, gaze snapping to Tony who she could barely see under Loki. 

"Get down", the woman said again, but this time her tone wasn't nearly as threatening, sounding closer to alarmed. Loki obeyed her, but stayed close, ready to defend Tony if needed. The woman dropped her sword to the ground and briskly walked over to the sahali. "Oh you damned idiot..."

Her tone was affectionate, obviously she knew Tony. That was good. And Becu trusted her, so Loki could trust her.

"So you know him then?" Loki asked and watched as the woman got Becu to kneel. "You'll help him?"

The woman glanced at Loki with a frown on her face.

"Yes, he is a Sental, though he really shouldn't be telling that to anyone", she answered with an annoyed voice. "Now help me get him down."

Together they got Tony on the ground, and the woman started to gently unwrap the bindings on his wing.

While the woman worked, Loki observed her. She was tall, taller than Loki. Her skin was dark, eyes, hair and horns black. Her tail was black with dark grey ridges and she had silver bangles on her horns. Loki had seen bangles like that on people before, but had yet to ascertain if they had any meaning.

She worked with sure hands, pulling out a jar full of foul smelling oil from a pocket dimension and started rubbing it on Tony's wing.

"Could you lay down Tony's travel mattress", she asked, even though she had a knack for making everything sound like a command. "We will camp here. Both you and your drakes are tired. It would take another day to reach Mournstead."

Loki nodded and unpacked both his and Tony's travel mattresses. 

"May I ask your name?" Loki asked the woman who stopped what she was doing to stare at Loki for a while. She was very unnerving.

"Adya", she said and turned back to Tony. When Loki didn't say anything for a while, she turned back to stare at him pointedly. "You?"

"Oh, I'm Lucan", Loki said, chancing a small smile, but Adya just just turned away again. "Though tony calls me Rain."

"Well I'm not going to", Adya said, lifting Tony easily in her arms and moving him to the travel mattress. Loki wondered if that was her way of being humorous. "He's going to be fine. I gave him medicine. He should wake up in the morning."

Adya seemed to mainly talk in short sentences, and only talked when she had something worthwhile to say. Loki would respect that.

When she had Tony settled, Adya turned to stare at Loki again, before sighing and undoing the clasps of her hood and pulling it down along with the collar. She had high cheekbones and a delicate jaw. There was something... otherworldly about her. She looked like the noble women in Vanaheim, but at the same time she looked like a fierce warrior. Her black hair was long and done in a braid to pull it off her face.

Adya stared back at him, black eyes unblinking. Loki refused to back down and just waited for the woman to decide what she was going to do.

"Who are you?" she asked after what felt like an eternity. 

"I... I told you I am called Lucan", Loki answered. "I'm traveling to study different forms of magic."

"I don't care about that", Adya said, sounding a little frustrated. "Who are you to him?"

Oh. Well that... that was a complicated question. 

"I met him in The Lost", Loki said slowly, wondering just how much he could say. "He saved me from a fire giant and we traveled together to Taed Morden. We stayed at the same tavern and decided to travel together to Mournstead."

"You didn't answer my question", was all the woman said in answer. Loki sighed, not really wanting to answer.

"I don't know", he answered honestly. "I care about him but... I can not..."

"Is it because he's a Sental?" Adya asked. "Sentals are allowed to have families."

"No, that is not it", Loki said frowning. Why was she so interested? "It is complicated. And private."

Adya nodded then, letting it go. Huh, she seemed like a sensible person. 

"You care for him", Loki said after a moment of silence. "A lot."

"He is one of my finest warriors", Adya answered like it was a matter of fact. "And he makes most of our weapons."

_Her_ warrior.

"You are commander Nenadya", Loki stated, understanding now why Tony called her the scariest woman he had ever met. Loki didn't really know her, and he didn't want to make her mad. Adya, was it even okay to call her that? Most likely since that is what she introduced herself as. Adya looked at him with a frown.

"You are a strange man", she commented. "Now sleep."

Loki laid down on his travel mattress, Aven curling up to him and Ruth at his side and he fell asleep almost immediately.

______

"-m just worried", Adya's voice woke Loki up. He didn't move, just listened, even though for some reason he felt like he shouldn't.

"Don't worry about me, Sparkles", Tony answered in a tone that said he didn't want to talk. That was clear even to Loki who had just woken up.

But Tony was awake! He was going to be fine!

"You are my soldier. I worry about everyone under my command", Adya answered with a huff.

"Yeah, well... right now you only lead the Sentals, imagine the stress when you take over as the queen", Tony said changing the subject and he must have tried to move, since the words were followed by a small cry of pain.

Take over as queen? Adya was going to be queen? How? Was Adya trying to overthrow the king? Norns, was Tony involved in a coup?

"Your friend is awake", Adya answered, her tone a bit more detached again.

"Rain?" Tony called out with a hopeful tone. Loki sat up to find Tony sitting cross-legged and eating bread, wearing nothing but a pair of trousers. Curse the norns, Loki did not need that image. The eldun's wings were resting behind him, right wing still wrapped up but bending only in the correct spots now.

"You are fine, my friend?" Loki asked the smith, feeling a weight in his stomach. He had feared that he'd never see Tony like this again. Smiling, joking.

"Oh, I'm blazing", Tony said smirking.

"He still needs to visit a healer to be able to fly", Adya interrupted with a dry voice. "And you will go, or I'm throwing you out of the Sentals."

"Yes, fra-reium", Tony said with a mocking voice, earning a darkened glare from Adya. "Gam-reium, gam-reium, sheesh."

Loki frowned and raised his eyebrows at Tony to get a translation. He didn't quite understand why All-Speak didn't translate some of the words. He could feel that the eldran, most of them at least, also had All-Speak. 

"Oh... uhh..." Tony cast a wild look at Adya, looking for help.

"He heard you refer to me as future queen already", Adya answer, walking over to his purple sahali. 

"Oh, huh... Okay", Tony said shrugging. "Reium is the correct way to address royalty. Though 'your highness' works too. Reium is left over from the old kingdoms. 'fra' is for older women and Sparkles denies being ancient so we're supposed to say 'gam', not 'fra'."

"Future queen?" Loki asked. There was no way it was a coup. They wouldn't talk about such a thing so openly.

"My husband is the crown prince", Adya answered shortly and well, that explained it. 

That did not explain how Tony was so close to the future queen. At least Loki knew that Tony wasn't the crown prince, since the eldun had said he wasn't married. 

"So, are you heading with us back to Mournstead?" Tony asked Adya. Princess Nenadya? Oh, this was weird. 

"Yes", Adya answered curtly. "However, I'm not staying there. I'm heading south next, fire giants are starting to move north. I'm going to investigate. I only came here to give you the papers."

"Papers?" Loki asked frowning. Tony bit his lip, looking at Loki with a pained look.

"She brought me papers that will let me into a library in the Dragon's Spine", Tony said quietly. "Only me. Dragons don't like the eldran coming to their home. Or... anyone, really."

"Oh", Loki said, feeling numb. So, they would split up on Mournstead? Loki knew that was going to happen sooner or later. He had hoped it'd be later.

"I'd give you a message crystal, but I'm not allowed to take anything like that to the Spine", Tony said with a grimace. Aven whined and climbed in to Tony's lap. She didn't want Tony to leave.

"Oh Avy, love, I will see you again, don't worry", Tony reassured the drake, but Loki got the feeling the eldun was talking to him. 

"We need to start moving", Adya said gruffly.

"Oh Sparkles, I've been telling Rain stories when we travel", Tony said excitedly, carefully standing up. "Do you want to tell him the story of how you met your husband?"

"Why Sparkles?" Loki asked as they were all mounting their sahali's. Tony needed some help getting on his. 

"Just look at that sparkling smile", Tony said smiling brightly and gesturing to Adya. The queen-to-be herself was just staring back, no smile in sight.

"Oh Tony", Loki said chuckling and shaking his head.

"So, story?"

"No", Adya said with a low voice.

"I'll tell it then!"

"Suit yourself."  
____

_Nenadya was born in a small town, just east of Damos. When she was a small child, she saw a Sental take down a fire giant as if it were a simple task and from that day she decided she wanted to be a Sental when she grew up._

_She practised whenever she could, quickly besting every other warrior in her small town. When none of the other warriors in town could even touch her, she felt that she was ready and traveled to Red Water._

_The tests for Sentals are held once a year and Adya arrived in the capital a mere day before the tests were starting and so she did not attend the king's speech like all of the other candidates._

_The morning the tests began, she got lost in the castle. She roamed until she was sure the tests had already began and she would have to wait a year to take the tests._

_Right as she was about to give up, she was attacked from behind. Instinct taking over, she hit her assailant, only to turn around and see that it was a man in a healer robe, wanting to ask her if she was lost._

_Adya gave the healer a lecture about coming up behind someone unannounced, especially someone wearing armor. Healer's are important and many of them are not great warriors, so they should take care of themselves and not approach dangerous looking individuals._

_Chastised, the healer promised to be more careful, and in apology, showed Adya the was to the tests._

_It wasn't until later, when Adya entered the combat part of the trials, that she saw the tester._

_Prince Ryannul was, and still is, one of the greatest warriors Valkama has seen in recent years._

_He is also one of the strongest healers seen since the Order fell._

______

"That is not how it went", Adya mumbled.

"Oh, so you didn't hit him?" Tony asked with a smirk.

"No. Well... I hit him twice", Adya answered with a small smile. "Second time for flirting with me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> \- In case I haven't mentioned it before, Valkama = Finnish for haven, port or asylum
> 
> \- Tor'chira = A swear word. Derived from words for 'cut' and 'tail'. Basically you are cursing someone to have their tail cut.
> 
> \- Here is my beautiful map if anyone wants to try follow where they are: http://orangehollow.tumblr.com/post/137538450619/hi-i-suck-at-drawing-maps-but-i-made-a-map-for-my?is_related_post=1
> 
> That's all I can remember right now, will add more later if I forgot something~


	8. Announcement

Sorry this is not a new chapter, I apologize getting anyone's hopes up.

I have a slight problem currently and decided to make an announcement as to why there is no new chapter yet.

So, I have a problem with my legs, where they are busted (yay for being child athlete) and need surgery. I've been fighting with the pains for years (the problem was diagnosed when I was maybe 12) and up until now, they have been manageable, however in the last few weeks it has gotten a lot worse where I can't really walk anymore and the pain in my hips and lower back are making it hard for me to sit up.

And writing while laying down is really slow.

I have a doctor's appointment early next week, but if they decide to go with the surgeries on my legs, I'm going to have to travel to a bigger city, stay at a hospital all that lovely stuff, which is going to further delay the chapters.

That being said, I am NOT in ANY way abandoning this fic.

I am still actively writing it, I have about 2k - 3k words written for the next chapter, but I probably wont be able to make my self imposed timetable of at least one chapter a week for a while, and I apologize for that.

I have over a thousand hits, which is amazing and makes me so sad that I haven't been able to post the next chapter yet.

Just please don't give up on me!

I am still writing!

Thank you to anyone who has read, commented or kudos'd. It is really amazing.


	9. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the long wait! Next chapter will (hopefully) come out sooner. Also, over a 1000 hits, over a 100 kudos o.o Uhmm... guys... wow  
> Also apologies for the shorter chapter.

The last few hours of their travel were spent in silence, except for Tony complaining about the pain in his wing every time Becu jumped too harshly and Adya telling him to quiet.  
When the mountain in which Mournstead was built in finally came into view, the sun was high in the sky, slowly starting it's descent. Adya slowed down her sahali well before the mountain, Loki and Tony following suit.

"I just want to warn you", Adya said, looking at Loki. "There is going to be a dragon in front of the gates. He won't attack so don't worry."

"Dragon?" Tony asked before Loki could comment. "You came with Shavel?"

At Adya's nod Loki frowned. 

"Is that the king's dragon?" he asked the eldran.

"Yes and no", Adya answered. "Shavel is one of the king's soldiers yes, but he doesn't belong to anyone. He is helping me."

Loki strained his eyes and sure enough, he could see something white next to the gate, amidst the trees. He could hear Tony snicker but didn't care. He felt giddy, to be able to finally see a dragon. 

When they got closer, the white form stood up and started coming closer to them.

In the book, Shavel had been called a runt, but even his head was the size of a grown man, his canines the lenght of Loki's arm. He easily stepped over the trees growing near the mountain like they were bushes. He stopped in front of them, lowering his head to look at them with fiery red eyes.

Unlike the soft scales of the lesser drakes, his white scales looked razor sharp and hard as steel. His head was crowned with six white horns and sharp spines that continued along his neck all the way to his tail. He had four legs like sitsos and large flight-capable wings folded on his back. There was a harness strapped around his chest, much like a sahali's saddle.

Aven yelped and hid behind Loki's back, peeking out from over his shoulder.

_"Finally"_ , the dragon's words rang in Loki's mind. It was more like an impression of words rather than an actual voice. _"Something happened? You should have taken me with you."_

There was no inflection in the words and it was impossible to gauge the dragon's mood.

"They were attacked before I reached them", Adya said with a scoff. "And you know why you had to stay."

Her sahali kept trying to back away from the dragon, while Ruth and Becu both seemed fine with the giant standing in front of them. Or runt, as the book said. Loki had a hard time seeing the dragon as a runt.

_"I have no problem seeing you as such"_ , Shavel said, making Loki gasp in surprise. This dragon could read his mind! But Loki couldn't feel it, couldn't feel the presense in his mind. He reached out with his magic, but he couldn't feel the dragon's mind at all. _"You cannot feel me, Loki Odinson, you shouldn't try in vain. A dragon's mind is not something creatures like you can comprehend."_

"Rain, you all right?" Tony asked with a worried voice. "Stop messing with him, you over sized lizard!"

Shavel had called Loki with his real name. Had Tony not heard him? Would Shavel tell Tony and Adya why he was here? Who he was?

_"You haven't given me a reason to"_ , Shavel answered. _"For now, I will allow you to keep up your ruse."_

Why? Loki frowned, trying to understand what the dragon was after. Surely it had a reason for letting him keep his secrets. But why?! It was frustrating. Did Shavel need him for something? Loki was here for the Eye. Was Shavel also looking for the Eye?

_"Oh stop your worrying"_ , Shavel said, heaving a breath that sounded like a sigh. Both Adya and Tony were now frowning looking at them. _"You pose no threat. At least not yet. You care about this realm. I shall trust that information. For now."_

Oh but the sly beast didn't comment anything about the artifact.

_"And how correct you are"_ , Shavel answered and turned his head to look at Tony and Adya. _"I was just getting to know your new friend. You know how much I like new people."_

"You hate new people", Tony deadpanned with a suspicious look on his face. So Tony actually knew the dragon. Interesting.

_"Oh we'll agree to disagree"_ , Sahali answered and made a noise that sounded like a chuckle. This realm was insane. _"Now, it was nice seeing you, Tony, Rain, but we really must head south now."_

Adya nodded and jumped down from her sahali. 

"Tony, return this sahali to the stables", she commanded her soldier who made a small mocking bow in answer. "Lucan, make sure Tony sees a healer."

With brisk movements Adya climbed up Shavel's shoulders, sitting between his wings and fastening the harness around her legs. With a nod of his head, Shavel moved away from them with fluid motions, until he was far enough to spread his wings. Loki watched in amazement at the movement of muscles as the dragon took a few running steps and with strong beats of his wings, rose to the sky. He rose quickly and soon he was just a small dot of white in the sky. 

"Adya tried to make it seem like it wasn't a big problem, but..." Tony said quietly next to him. Loki turned to look at him, to see the other man stare at the sky with a frown. "If the king sent Shavel with her, it must be more than just a few fire giants coming up north."

"Tony", Loki said quietly, wondering what he could say to comfort his friend.

"It's fine, Rain", Tony answered, turning to look at him with a smile. "Come on, let's get in the city."

If the fire giants became too big a problem, would Tony be called in to fight them?

Loki followed the other man, uncomfortable with the thought of Tony facing down those monsters. They had just fought one and Tony had...

Loki didn't say anything as the smith gave their story and papers to the guards, anxious to get his friend to the healers.

The gates of Mournstead were very similar to Taed Morden, but the cities themselves were very different. Mournstead was a mountain that the eldran had dug into, not a volcano.

The mountain had mostly been hollowed out, except for large pillars reaching all the way to the ceiling of the cave. It seemed that the eldran had actually made their homes inside these pillars. Wooden walkways and rope bridges were hanging between pillars provided a way for people on higher levels to walk around. It seemed that there were no stairs however, flying being the only way to get up.

Just like in Taed Morden, there was a peculiar empty place in middle of the town. Here however, it was obviously going to be used soon.

After a small moment of confusion, Loki remembered that a wedding was going to take place here soon.

It seemed that the whole city was covered in flowers and thin chains of gold and silver. They were hanging from the bridges, fences, pillars, and even people. Almost everyone they passed had at least one flower and a chain in their horns.

"This is rather impressive", Tony muttered, looking at all the flowers. "Who ever is getting married must be important to the city. I'm guessing the wedding is tonight."

"I see", Loki said slowly, excited now to see a wedding. "You, however, are going to the healer."

Tony made a face, but sighed and started guiding Becu towards the stables when the only answer he got from the sorcerer was a glare. They left Adya's sahali that she had apparently rented with it's owners and after getting directions from them, headed further into the city.

The healer's building was one of the ground level houses peppered between the pillars. They left their sahali's by the water trough, Tony promising they wouldn't take long. Aven was allowed to come inside with them.

Inside the building, everything was made of white marble and almost shone with cleanliness. They were greeted by a young man wearing a white robe. He took one look at Tony's wing, made a little strangled sound and showed them to a room, saying that a healer would be with them soon.

"He was not a healer?" Loki asked confused.

"Oh, he was wearing apprentice robes", Tony explained, sitting on something that was a cross between a table and a bed. It looked extremely uncomfortable. "Healers have different colored threads sewn into their robes that tell you what all they have specialized in. Red for combat aid, purple for internal diseases, green for fevers, blue for umm... magical injuries or something... To be honest, I don't even remember what all of the colors mean."

Loki snorted, not at all surprised that Tony didn't remember something that important. The door opened and a woman stepped in. She was wearing a white flowy robe like the apprentice, hers however, had thin stripes of red, yellow, black, silver and purple sewn on the edges of the hem, sleeves and the hood.

"Good evening, sars", the woman greeted them politely. "Came to get fixed up before the wedding, huh?"

"Of course", Tony said, aiming a charming smile at the woman. It made Loki's temper raise frustratingly. "The city seems to be well decorated. Who exactly is getting married?"

"Oh you don't know? Lord Maera's daughter Silva is getting married to a young lad named Henre", the healer chattered happily as she leaned in to examine Tony's wing. "What happened to your wing? I can see someone has partially healed it, rather crudely, but the damage was extensive."

"Oh that... A fire giant decided to try and use me as a shaky toy", Tony said with a bashful smile.

"Well that explains it", the healer muttered and gently ran her fingers along the bones. She glanced at Loki then. "And how about you? Are you hurt?"

"No", Loki answered the woman with a small smile on his lips. "I am the smarter one. I know not to fly in front of an angry giant."

Tony looked at him with a betrayed look and a pout on his face. It was adorable. The healer chuckled.

"Yes, that doesn't sound smart", she said rubbed her hands together. "Since you have already received the healing itself, I only need to cast a few spells to make sure your bones settle correctly and you wont have any problems in the future."

The healer muttered a few words and a warm red and yellow light emerged from her hands and spread along Tony's wings. Loki could feel it. A tremendous but gentle power, like a mother's kiss on a hurt knee. It was very soothing.

"There you go, sar", the woman said as the light faded. "Avoid flying for at least five days and you will be as good as new. You can pay at the front room."

They said their farewells to the healer, thanked for the service and headed out. For the first time, Loki saw Tony pay for something. They were using small gems, almost like little chips that had fallen off of larger pieces. There were three different colors that Loki could see: blue, red and green.

What was wrong with gold coins?

____

The tavern they were staying at was located in one of the pillars. The tavern took up most of the lower levels, going up at least five levels. 

The owner of the tavern refused to give them two rooms, seeing as the wedding was bringing in a lot of customers and the tavern was already almost full. It didn't really matter, seeing as they slept in the same area when they were on the road. Besides, Tony was only staying one night. Tomorrow he would leave and go in the dragon's territory. Oh how Loki wanted to go with him. At the same time though, he was not wanting to meet another dragon. Meeting Shavel had been overwhelming. Speaking of which.

"You could have warned me that dragons can read minds", Loki complained to his friend when they were sitting in their room, Loki feeding his Aven.

"Uhh, yeah", Tony said grimacing. "It's... One of those things that are obvious to me. Like... beat your wings to fly, you know? Did he... What did Shavel say to you?"

"Not much", Loki answered somewhat honestly. "He knew I was not an eldun, but he said that I was not harmful, so he would let me go, or something to that effect."

"That's good", Tony said frowning. "I'm not sure what I would have done if Shavel had attacked you..."

Loki observed his friend. Had Tony worried about that? What _would_ he had done? Tony's commander was also there and most likely would have sided with the dragon. Would Tony have fought them both for Loki? Even when he was injured? It would have ended badly, yet Loki was curious, a small part of him hoping the dragon had attacked. He really was as heartless as the Asgardians said.

"Yes, it is good", the liesmith agreed. "Now please, tell me what I need to wear for this wedding, I do not wish to offend anyone."

__

Weddings in Valkama were celebrated by the whole town. They were always hosted in the open areas that each city or town had. The middle would have a raised platform that the spouses and their immediate family would be seated at. There would be music, games and merriment. Everyone was expected to bring some food that they could then trade with other guests.

You were only allowed to wear one color, with small accents in another accepted nowadays. Usually people dressed to compliment the colors in their tails. You were supposed to wear your best which, in a civilization where everyone used magic, could get very extravagant. 

The couple getting married would be wearing black clothes and during the ceremony they would be given colorful scarves and belts by their families and friends. Apparently it was some sort of point of pride to get many scarves and belts.

Unlike in most cultures Loki had visited, the couple would not receive any gifts from the guests, only giving each others something meaningful, something they could wear or carry with them.

You weren't allowed to have visible weapons on you at the wedding. Well, Tony had said no weapons at all, but with magic users, you were never truly unarmed.

The celebration started as soon as the sun set, which made no sense to Loki considering they were underground. That meant however that they didn't have much time in their room before they were heading out to buy some food to trade at the wedding.  
___

Loki had decided to wear green with silver accents. He wore a long forest green coat with a tall collar and silver decorations sewn in, dark green trousers with tall black boots that had silver buckles on the sides. He had a shawl on his shoulder that was a mix of green and silver, as if it had been sewn with two threads. Tony had insisted that he needed jewelry, so he had silver bangles at his elbows and wrists. Tony had helped him wrap a delicate silver chain around his horns.

The sental had been kind enough to explain what he shouldn't wear. Bangles on your horns would signal that you were married, a gem on your forehead meant you were royalty and a colorful thread around your wrist meant that you were looking for someone to spend the night with. Apparently the color was supposed to specify what kind of person you were looking for, but again, Tony couldn't remember what color meant what. Other than to stay away from light blue. 

When Loki saw his friend, he had to remind himself that the other man was leaving in the morning. They would possibly never meet again. This man was not his, never would be.

Tony was wearing a blood red coat that hugged his torso and broke in to thin belt like strips when it passed his waist. He had three dark red, almost black belts around his chest and waist, that were all slightly loose and overlapped each others as if they had been put on carelessly. On his hips was a scarve-like red belt, inlayed with golden runes. His coat had a mantle, similar to Adya's sental uniform, except Tony's outfit had no pauldrons over it, instead having belt like buckles on the shoulders and it had more intricate details sewn with gold thread on the red fabric. 

Tony had golden chains wrapped around his arms and horns and his hair was open for once, falling past his shoulders. He looked very handsome. It wasn't just the outfit, but also the way he carried himself. He stood straight, fully aware of his looks.

Aven was coming with them, so Tony got her a red bow and tied it around her head. Loki had to stop Aven from trying to eat it multiple times.

They took some pillows and blankets from their room and managed to buy some food from their tavern's keeper who seemed very stressed about the whole wedding deal. Loki would have felt bad for the man, had he not been so rude when they were renting their room.

The opening was already almost full when they arrived. People were sitting on stone slabs circling the raised platform, chatting and eating. They found a free slab and put their pillows and blankets down to make them more comfortable to sit on. 

The place was lit by bowls of water that had colorful enchanted flames burning on top of them. Really, the whole place was an explosion of color. Everyone was dressed colorfully and Loki could see some very complicated outfits. Some people were even using magic and adding more and more belts and jewerly to their outfits in a competition to see who had the most extravagant outfit.

The eldran seemed to have multiple greetings. Some people bowed their heads when meeting, some touched the back of their hands together and some grasp the others head and pull them together for a soft touch of forehead

In the middle platform there was a group of people playing various instruments, all made of crystals. The music was faster and livelier than the music on Asgard. Every now and then someone would climb to the platform to sing with the band. Judging from the way people cheered, they recognized some of these singers. 

"The lower section of the platform", Tony said pointing at the outer ting of the platform which was slightly lower than the middle. It was loud with the people and the music, so they had to sit very close to each others to be able to hear anything. At least that's what Loki reasoned to be their close proximity. "The people sitting there are the couple's family and friends."

Loki had already guessed that, but nodded at his friend in thanks. He couldn't see the couple themselves yet. He was about to ask why they weren't here when the music stopped. An old man stepped up to the platform. He seemed very frail, but Loki could sense the strong magic deep inside him. His tail and horns had gone a dull brownish gray.

"That's the local wiseman", Tony whispered.

"The sun has set", the wiseman said with a dry scratchy voice. Magic carried his voice through the whole city. Without the magic, Loki doubted if even the eldran closest to the man would have been able to hear him. "The norns have granted permission for these young people to marry."

"It's believed that if norns don't accept a marriage, the sun wont set that night", Tony whispered again, amusing Loki with his hurried tone as he tried to explain before the old man continued. 

"Today we are to celebrate the binding of Silva Maeradottir and Henre Corasson", the old man said, spreading his arms. Tony pointed at their left, where a woman dressed fully in black had appeared at the edge of the opening. She had a tanned skin, dark brown hair, white and brown tail and white horns. She had a black blindfold over her eyes. Loki couldn't see the other side of the platform, but he assumed that was where the groom was. 

"These two souls have found each other in the darkness", the old man continued. A woman walked up to the bride and started spinning her in spot. "If norns truly meant them for each others, no storm can keep them apart."

"Brace for noise", Tony whispered quickly. 

Loki turned to look at his friend, frowning, when a roar erupted from the crowd. It made the sorcerer jump, but Tony reached out to squeeze his hand reassuringly. People were yelling, some were yelling words or the couple's names, some were just screaming as loud as they could. 

Loki turned back to look at Silva to see the woman take a few shaky steps with her arms outstretched. She was yelling something, but her voice was drowned by the others. She moved through the people unassisted, bumping into the stone slabs every now and then. No-one touched her, actually stepping away and lifting their food to safety when she was about to collide with them. 

There was a look of fierce determination on her face. When she came a little closer to them, loki finally heard what she was yelling. 

"Henre!"

Over and over. 

They were looking for each other in the crowd. 

She was walking a little faster now, clearly having decided a direction. She was heading slightly right of the platform.

She bumped into the slabs, tripped on something and fell, yet she always got up, swiped her hands on her black robe and continued. People yelled louder and louder the closer she got to the middle. Some people were flying in the air to observe what was going on. Loki and Tony both stood on their slab to see better. 

Slowly, the yells turned into encouragements. People were still loud, drowning the voices of the couple, but now they were yelling phrases like 'you can do this' and 'just a little bit more'.

And Loki and Tony were yelling along with the thousands of other people gathered there.

Henre was dressed in a similar robe, also blindfolded and walking with his arms out in front of him. He had red hair, an orange tail with yellow ridges and copper horns.

They were close now and the crowd was yelling as loud as they could.

They almost missed each others, walked right past the other, when Silva's hand shot out and pulled Henre against her. Loki smiled and cheered as they pulled their blindfolds off and embraced each others.

"Oh I thought they were going to miss each others", Loki said with a relieved sigh as they sat down again. "What would happen if they could not find each others?"

"That doesn't happen often", Tony explained with a smile as people were settling down again. "Eventually the crowd starts helping, but it's said that the faster you find each others, the stronger your bond is. They were pretty quick. One of the fastest I've personally seen. Adya's was the fastest though. She just walked straight to her husband."

Loki chuckled. He could imagine it, Adya walking with quick, efficient steps to her husband, not bothering with going around the slabs. If her wedding had the slabs that is. 

"You shall find each other again and again", the wiseman said, effectively shushing the crowd. The couple was now standing in front of him, facing each other. Their smiles were so brilliant it made Loki's heart skip a beat. "Hold out your hands."

Both of them held their hands out, the tips of their fingers almost touching. The wiseman pulled out a pouch of ink and poured it over the hands of the couple.

"He's reading their futures", Tony whispered helpfully without prompting. The wiseman held out a bowl and the couple dipped their hands in it and then waited as the old man stared at the water.

A shadow crossed the wiseman's face, just for a blink of an eye, almost impossible to see.

"I see happiness and a child coming soon", the wiseman said, but there was a tension to the set of his shoulders.

"What is wrong with him?" Loki asked his friend who was also frowning. 

"He probably saw something bad", Tony asnwered with a low voice. "If the wisemen see something bad, they usually don't say anything to ruin the celebration. He'll tell the couple later."

Loki nodded slowly, a bit worried that this marriage was going to be short. There was no way of knowing what the bad was, as a seer's gift can act strangely and give fortunes completely unrelated to what they were looking for. 

"Please exchange your gifts", the wiseman said after the couple had dried their hands. A young girl that looked a lot like Silva jumped to the platform and handed something over to Silva before jumping away again. 

"Henre, my love", Silva started, voice still a bit hoarse from shouting. "I give to you this necklace made of shimmering stone. I started carving this when I was just ten years old. I made this with love, always thinking of that perfect person I could one day give this to."

Henre bowed his head slightly and Silva slipped the necklace in around his neck. Loki was too far away to really see it, he could only make out something blue and sparkly. A man jumped to the platform now, handing something to Henre.

"Silva, my love", Henre said, smiling brightly. "I give to you this dagger made of silver, for it reminds me of your name and you are a fierce warrior. I mined the silver for it myself and hunted for the leather in the belt."

Henre first held out the belt for the dagger and then the dagger. 

"You have given each others tokens of your affections", the wiseman spoke up again. "Do you wish to bind your cores?"

"Yes", both of them answered at the same time. 

Four cloaked figures rose to the platform, surrounding Silva and Henre and creating a force barrier around them.

"There was an incident where someone accidentally bonded with the wrong person", Tony explained. "So now it's custom to block them from the crowd."

"How does one accidentally bond with the wrong person?" Loki asked confused. That sounded absurd. Tony just chuckled and shook his head. 

"I'll tell you the story some other time", the smith answered.

When? Weren't they going to part soon?

Loki turned back to observe the couple. They were holding each other's hands, eyes closed. The barrier kept Loki from sensing it, but he knew that they were reaching out with their seidr right now. He could see the moment their magics bonded. Both of them gasped, opened their eyes and just looked at each others with tears running down to run beside the smiles on their faces. It felt awfully intimate, like something this many people shouldn't be seeing.

The cloaked men lifted the barrier and left the platform, leaving just the couple and the wiseman on it again. 

"You are now one", the wiseman announced and a cheer erupted as the now married couple embraced and kissed each others. "Let us celebrate."

The wiseman climbed down, helped by the cloaked men and the people playing instruments climbed back up.

People started milling around, chatting and exchanging food as the couple on the platform were approached by their family and given colorful scarves and belts.

A few people came up to Tony and Loki, greeted them politely and traded some food. A group of children came up to them, holding baskets of flowers. When they left, both Tony and Loki had flowers in their horns and hair. Even Aven had a crown made of flowers.

Loki got to taste quite a few different kinds and found out that the eldran really like their food spicy. They also used berries often. 

"This is my favorite", Loki said pointing at the sweet berries someone had given them. The berries had a soft flavor that reminded Loki of strawberries, except the seeds inside them tasted like a very sugary caramel and they were covered in a creamy sauce.

"I liked the sour berries", Tony said licking his fingers. The sour berries had been very sticky and now it was... distracting. "Too bad we only got a few."

Loki snorted and took a swig of the flask Tony had brought. It was some sort of short alcohol. Tony explained that it was brewed from seven different kinds of berries, two of which were spicy. It burnt as it went down, but tasted amazing. 

"Oh hey, something happening", Tony said nodding at the platform. Silva and Henre had climbed back up and were standing at the opposite sides looking at each others. A new song started playing.

"If you wish it so, I'll be someone else for you", Silva started singing. Her voice was gentle but clear. "If you wish it so, I'll be a mistake, they happen. If you wish it so, I'll come home for Mertain. If you wish it so, I wont go to new wars again. If you wish it so, I'll be a loyal hasit by your door, or lay my head on your chest."

"If you wish it so, you will never be restless again", Henre sang, his voice sure and thick with emotion. "If you wish it so, all of mine yours is also. If you wish it so, I will take your believes. If you wish it so, even your lie is my truth. If you wish it so, I will move to beyond The Nothing, if there I still can see you."

Tony started to quietly sing along. Something swelled up in Loki's chest, making his pulse beat loud in his ears.

"For without you, I drown in the night's confusion", they both sang, slowly walking towards each others. "And without you, you see. Without you, I'm halfway to Hel."

"If you wish it so, I won't repeat your name anymore", Henre sang. 

Loki glanced at Tony, who was looking at the couple with a small smile on his lips.

"Even if you wish it so, I won't erase the image of you from my mind", Silva continued.

Slowly Loki shifted, until he was right next to Tony, and laid his head on Tony's shoulder. The smith didn't look at him, but his smile widened as he wrapped his arm around the sorcerer.

"If you wish it so, I'll fight through the stone", they both sang. "If you wish it so, well, whatever makes you happy. If you wish it so, I'll bring to your bed mt. Arhest."

"Or move north to west", Silva sang, smiling as she reached her husband.

"And again and again", Henre almost whispered as they finished the sentence together.

"I remember you kissing me. 

"But without love, I drown in the night's confusion and without love, you see. Without love, we are halfway to Hel."

Tony laid a soft kiss at the base of Loki's horn, making the other man sigh. If only the outside world didn't exist and they could stay like this.

"For without you, I drown in the night's confusion. And without you, you see. Without you I am halfway to Hel."

"If you wish it so."

"If you wish it so."

"If you wish it so."

The crowd cheered as the couple bowed and went back to their families. Other singers rose to the stage, singing their songs, mostly happy ones or ones about love.

Tony and Loki stayed there, leaning into each other, giving themselves this moment. 

As the night went on, they laid down on their blankets and pillows, facing each other, ignoring the rest of the people, just looking at each other and holding tight.

__

Loki woke up to a gentle touch on his face. He opened his eyes to find Tony looking at him, smiling sadly. 

"I have to go", Tony said with a quiet voice. Loki sat up and looked around the area. There were many people sleeping on the slabs around them. It must have been early morning. Loki sighed and ran his hand through his hair. Aven stayed asleep, curled around a pillow.

"I know", the sorcerer answered with a weak voice. "I know you say we will meet again but... Tony, I do not know how long I will stay on this realm."

"Hey, just give me this Loki", Tony said, raising his hand to touch Loki's cheek. "Let me believe we'll meet again."

"You... You know my name", Loki said with an incredulous voice, focusing on what was easier. 

"Yeah", Tony said chuckling. "You told it to me a few nights ago. You probably thought I was asleep already."

"I... I did", Loki confessed. Never the less, he was extremely glad to hear his true name on Tony's lips. "So... We will meet again then?"

Tony nodded, smiling brightly and leaned forward. Their lips barely touched at first, ghosting against each others. Loki let out a frustrated little noise and pulled Tony closer, crashing their lips together. It was hungry. They were both trying to take as much as they could and promising more for the future. Their hands snaked around their bodies to press as closely together as they could.

Loki could feel the burning low in stomach, in his chest, his throat, his eyes... He could taste salt and wondered which one of them was crying. 

They were both panting when they finally parted. 

"Here, take this", Tony said and gave Loki a golden cylindrical object. It was the length of Loki's forearm, a little thicker than his wrist and made of many layers, all opening on one side. The top of it opened like a birds beak and inside it was a green gem. The other end was flat, but Loki suspected it would transform like Tony's weapon. "That's all I could make without my smithy. I'm sure you'll figure out how to use it."

"Tony, thank you", Loki whispered.

"A pleasure Rain", Tony said standing up from the stone slab. "I expect you to master it by the time we see again."

With that he turned around and walked away. Loki felt like it was incomplete. Like he should say something more. 

He didn't. He watched in silence as Tony walked away. 

Loki wanted to believe it, but Tony was naive, this probably was goodbye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *waves Tony bye bye*
> 
> Author's notes:
> 
> \- The song is translated from a Finnish song called Jos sä tahdot niin (If you want it so/if you so wish) by Samuli Edelman and Jippu : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzxxBpMH1-Y It's from a Finnish musical Jos Rakastat (If you love) It's an awesome musical, I recommend it to anyone who loves musicals
> 
> \- Tony actually called Loki by his name in the earlier chapter too, not sure if anyone noticed.
> 
> \- Can anyone guess what the thing Tony gave to Loki is?
> 
> \- I drew Adya in the Sental uniform on my tablet (I tried) she can be found on my tumblr http://orangehollow.tumblr.com (Everything related to this story is tagged OTWOD)


	10. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you ever so much to anyone who read, commented, kudos'd, bookmarked, anything. Thank you.
> 
> I have the next chapter 90% written already, so it should be posted soon (ish).

Loki sat at the edge of the clearing legs crossed, observing people waking up and starting to clean the nights festivities away.

He was turning the weapon Tony had given him over in his hand. Loki was sure it was a weapon, but that was everything he had managed to figure out so far. The gem had magical properties, either to channel magic or use spells already carved in it. He decided not to test it inside the city, where he could accidentally hurt someone.

He needed to get out of the city and start traveling to the capital. Unfortunately Tony had taken the map, so Loki would need to get another one. Preferably one with more detail. All he knew was that the capital was the northern most city, Red Water.

Sighing the sorcerer got up and dusted the ever present ash and dust from his clothes. With quick steps he approach a woman walking with two children. 

"Excuse me..." Loki bit his lip when he realized how exactly he was supposed to address the woman. "...ma'am. I am not from around here, could you point me to a location where I can buy a map?"

Not that he had any money, but he could easily steal some. The woman frowned but at least she didn't look offended. Her two children, looking to be just out of toddler age were peering up at Loki. Their horns were just little nubs, much like Aven's.

"Traveling, huh?" the woman said conversationally. "Where to?"

Oh couldn't he just give the location. 

"Oh, I am on my way to Red Water", Loki said with a fake smile. "I am traveling for the first time so I would get awfully lost without a map."

"Well why don't you just travel with prince Tristar's company?" the woman asked, sounding alarmed just thinking that a stranger would get lost in this infernal realm. It was rather heart warming.

"Prince Tristar's company?" Loki asked with a frown. 

"Oh yes, his highness and his traveling company are heading back to the capital today I reckon", the woman said nodding her head.

The prince was here? Loki wondered if the prince was un-attached. Sure, he would prefer the princess because that was what he saw as correct, but according to the social norms of this realm, it would be acceptable for him to woo a prince. Well... As acceptable as it would be to woo a prince of a foreign realm to steal the secrets of the kingdom. At least his gender wouldn't be questioned. 

"You wouldn't happen to know where I can find the company?" Loki asked, getting anxious. What if they were leaving already? He still needed to go by the tavern to get Ruth. 

"Oh I don't know, sar", The woman said with a thoughtful voice. "Maybe you could wait by the gate? Oh but, what if they have left already? You could ask the gate keepers, but I don't know how willing they are to tell-"

Loki turned around and walked away. This woman was talking too much and he was in a hurry now. The woman called out after him, but he ignored her. He moved as quick as he could without drawing attention to himself. Surely the city had some sort of city guard that would stop suspicious people.

He had no idea if Tony paid for their room or not, so he sneaked into the tavern's stables. Aven made happy chirps when she saw Ruth, but before Loki could chastise her, Ruth made a low hissing sound to quiet the baby. The benefits of tying your seidr to an animal, Ruth understood that they needed to be quiet right now.

Again Loki would have felt bad about sneaking out and leaving the pillows and blankets in the clearing, but he really didn't like the owner of the tavern.

The drakes and Loki made their way towards the gates of the city and it became quite apparent that the prince and their company hadn't left yet. There were fourty or so people waiting by gate, five of them dressed in Sental uniforms.

Loki steered Ruth close enough to hear the people talk. 

"Are we ready?" one of the Sentals asked the group. 

"No, still waiting for Ella", a man closest to Loki answered. He had his back to Loki, so he could only see long, braided black hair, dark brown horns curved similarly to Loki and had a delicate golden chain with small green gems hanging from it, wrapped around them and a dark brown tail with bright green markings. He was wearing a traveler's cloak and he was riding white sahali with very light silver wings and stomach.

The white sahali turned it's head and purred at Loki, or more likely Ruth. Ruth answered with a smililar purr, making Loki frown. 

"Are you traveling with us, sar?" the man riding the sahali asked. His voice was low, but still held the hints of youth. The liesmith let Ruth walk a little closer to the man and his sahali.

"Ah, yes, if that is fine", Loki asked, adopting a pleasing tone. A small pulse of magic passed through Loki. It was almost too small to sense and very easy to miss. Loki couldn't tell where it was coming from.

"Anyone is free to join", the man answered. He hadn't turned to look at Loki, so the sorcerer could only make out his profile. The man tilted his head towards Loki. "May I say hello to your hasit?"

The man held out his arms. He didn't seem to have any malicious intent. Just in case, Loki wrapped his fingers around the weapon Tony had given him. If this man hurt Aven, he would be a test subject for what ever the weapon did. 

Aven was unsure at first when she was handed to a stranger, but started sniffing the man carefully. 

"Oh hello sweety", the man greeted the hasit. Aven stood up on her feet in front of the man and sniffed his chin. "What is her name?"

"Aven", Loki answered slowly as Aven chipped happily and pushed her head against the man's neck. "And I am Lucan."

"Aven", the man repeated, getting happy noises in response. "Yes you. You have a beautiful name, young lady."

The man turned to look at Loki then. 

"You can call me Tris", the man said with a warm smile as Loki realized just who he was talking to. The man had white un-seeing eyes. There was a green gem on his forehead, hanging from the chains around his horns. Tris. Tristar. This was the prince he was talking to.

"Nice to meet you, Tris", Loki answered with a calm, steady voice. The prince had just given him permission to address him informally and Loki was going to use it.

"Likewise, Lucan", the prince answered petting Aven's head. A frown crossed his head his head and he tilted his head again. Loki realized then that he was listening. Another small pulse of magic passed through Loki. "Ella, what is wrong?"

Loki turned to see another Sental and a woman approaching them. The Sental rode right past them, out of the gate, but the woman stopped in front of Tris.

The woman had dark skin, curly black hair, brown eyes and small brown horns. She had a brown tail with beige ridges and she was wearing some sort of uniform. It was a bit like a Sental's uniform, except it was grey and silver and lacked the hood. On her back was a large black crossbow.

She was riding the biggest sahali Loki had seen so far. It was midnight blue with lighter blue wings and a white belly. It was also covered in many scars and was missing an eye.

"Bad news", the woman, apparently Ella, answered with a serious expression. "I'll tell you later. It's something I- Where in the hell did you get a hasit?"

"It's not mine", Tris was quick to defend himself. "It's Lucan's."

The woman's piercing gaze turned to Loki then. She was almost as scary as Adya.

"I apologize", the woman said slowly. "Your hasit will not be harmed and will be returned to you."

"Oh, it is fine", Loki answered a bit confused. What was going on?

"Ella thinks I have a hoarding problem", Tris said at roll of his eyes. Loki wondered where he had learned people did that. Was it just a natural thing?

"That is because you do", Ella said with a scoff as she signaled to one of the Sental that they were leaving. 

Tris just shrugged and ordered his sahali to follow Ella's. They all had to give their papers to the guards, even Tris. Only the Sentals were let through without inspection. They only had to show the guards the amulets that hung around their necks. Loki really needed to get one of those amulets.

Their company consisted of the forty people that had been by the gate and six large carriages drawn by sahali's. There was a young pregnant woman sitting on top of one of the carts and three children with her. The Sentals all situated themselves to the outside parameter.

Tris steered his sahali next to the cart with the woman and children, and seeing as Aven was still with him, Loki followed. Every now and then Loki could feel that pulse of magic.

"That magic... Is that you?" Loki asked Tris when it started to bother him too much.

"Oh yes, I apologize, I have been told it can feel uncomfortable", Tris answered with an apologetic smile. "I cannot see, so I use magic to sense my surroundings. Most people do not notice it."

Loki frowned. That was... geneious. 

"I see", Loki answered. "May I ask how exactly it works?"

Tris' face lit up, obviously he liked talking about magic.

"I actually use this", Tris said and tossed something in Loki's direction. The Aesir easily caught it, turning it in his hands. It was a golden bracelet, inlayed with multiple stones of different colors. 

"The left most stone... Oh wait, you might be holding it the other way around... It's the-"

"The dark blue one", Ella interrupted with an amused look on her face.

"Ah yes, put the dark blue one on the left so it is easier to explain", Tris said, bringing his left hand to his right wrist. He had another bracelet on his right arm. "The left one is for water magic, next one is for fire, then light, earth, air, plasma and the last one is for the location spell. You can try using it. Just channel your magic into it and be careful not to use the other ones."

Loki held the bracelet in his hand and let a small amount of his magic flow through the clear stone on the right. He gasped as he was flooded with a whole new sense. It wasn't like seeing, but even when he closed his eyes, he knew where everything around him was. 

He could sense every living creature, all the drakes, small lizards under the ground, flying drakes somewhere high above them, the grass, the trees, the eldran, Tris .His core was enourmous, he was strong. Ella, she barely had any magic at all, but loki could sense the magic in her crossbow and two daggers hidden under her cloak. He could feel the heartbeats of everyone around him, even the two babies in the pregnant woman's womb. The weapon Tony had given Loki, the large gem was a conduit, used to enhance and direct power. Loki didn't know how he knew, but he knew. Inside it were smaller crystals. It was all so overwhelming.

"Okay, you need to stop now", Tris said and Loki reigned in his magic. He opened his eyes to find Ella looking at him with concern in her eyes. Loki felt a little dizzy, he had just used a lot of magic. "Sorry, I should have warned it's very taxing. That is why I only do the little bursts."

"No, it is I who should apologize", Loki said and threw the bracelet back to Tris, mostly to test the man's reflexes. Tris caught the bracelet easily and slipped it back around his wrist. Good, he wouldn't be a hinderance in a fight. "I got... excited. It is rare to see a weapon like that."

Tris frowned and tilted his head. 

"You must be from a small town. Weapons like these are not rare", he said shaking his hand. "Sure, most of them are one of a kind, but every big city has at least one backsmith that makes these."

Tony must have been one of those blacksmiths.

"Ah yes", Loki answered. He had to be careful with his wording. "This is the first time I am traveling anywhere in Valkama."

"Where are you from?" Ella asked sounding intrigued. 

"A place you have probably never heard of", Loki said. "It is small and remote."

Not a lie. Asgard was smaller than most realms and far above the others.

"I know Tris must be from the capital, but where are you from, Ella?" Loki asked politely, making sure to use the woman's name. It was one of the simplest things in trying to get someone to trust you. Everyone loved hearing their own name. Even Loki had liked it when Tony used his name...

"Me?" Ella said frowning. "I am... Oh, I guess you wouldn't know."

Ella let out a laugh. Loki forced out a chuckle, pretending to be embarrased and scrathed the back of his neck. In reality it annoyed him. He hated not knowing something and being laughed at.

"Ella is my sister", Tris said with a smile, but at least he wasn't laughing. Loki frowned and looked at Ella. She wasn't wearing a gem on her forehead like Tris was, and Loki couldn't remember reading anything about her.

"I'm not a princess", Ella answered the obvious question. "Well, not anymore. I abdicated from the crown to become Tris' bodyguard."

"I did not ask for it", Tris muttered. It sounded like an old argument.

"Yes, but I have no interest living as a princess and if something happens to you, I'd rather the crown goes to uncle Artheon, not me", Ella said shrugging. "And besides, this way I get to keep you out of trouble."

Tris just snorted and shook his head.

"So were you in Mournstead for the wedding?" Loki changed the subject before the siblings could start fighting. He knew from experience that it could accelerate quickly.

"Yes", Ella answered grimacing. "Lord Maera was a general in King Ratheas' army, so someone from the royal family had to be present for his daughter's wedding."

"And we picked the cracked crystal", Tris said with a sigh. 

"No, everyone else was busy", Ella answered. "Well... Uncle Rian just didn't want to go and aunt Lea can't stand- Uhh... I've probably said too much."

"Probably", Tris agreed with an amused voice and Loki chuckled. He liked these two just fine. That was good considering he needed to get on good enough terms with them to get them to take him to the palace. "This is going to be a long trip..."

Well, Loki knew a good way to pass time. And for him to find out more about Valkama.

"Does anyone have any stories they would like to tell to pass time?" he asked the people around them.

"I know some children's stories", the woman sitting in the cart answered. "I could tell the story of the Rain Bringer."

"We all know the story of the Rain Bringer", one of the children whined. 

"Oh no, young sar", the woman said with a secretive smile, instantly drawing in the children. "I met a woman, very old, almost ancient. She told me how the prophecy really goes."

__________________

_The world of Muspelheim is dry and hot. Water only flows underground and the wise ones say it will one day run out and the crops will wither, cattle die of thirst and in the end, even the eldran._

_When Muspelheim is dying the tears of mothers will burn on the ground and their prayers will be answered._

_A leaf shall fall from the branches of Yggdrasil. From the leaf shall a spirit emerge, a spirit more beautiful than anything ever seen, beauty that blinds you. The spirit shall roam Muspelheim and see its suffering._

_The spirit shall roam, trying in vain to help the children of Muspel, but there is nothing it can do._

_In it's travels, the spirit shall meet a man._

_This man, is kind and travels with the spirit. Together they will try to help where they can._

_And so, the spirit and the man shall fall in love. They make each other happy, even in the end of days._

_But it is the end of days._

_The spirit and the man travel, until they can travel no more. The man, weak and frail, is dying just like all of his kind._

_When he draws his last breath, the spirit cries._

_When the tears fall and burn on the grounds of Muspelheim the skies split open and for the first time, it rains._  
  
____

The sun was setting when they finally stopped to camp. The carts were positioned in a wide circle around six bonfires. There was no real need for the fires, other than light, seeing as it was always hot in Muspelheim. A few of the civilians with them did go out and hunt something to cook.

The sahali's were on the outside of the circle, keeping watch. Anyone would be insane to attack with almost fifty sahalis all around them. Ruth immediately went with Tris' sahali once Loki got her harness off.

"Why are our sahali's so..." Loki asked Ella and Tris, looking for the right word.

"Familiar?" Tris suggested from where he was putting away his sahali's harness. Loki was surprised that he did everything himself. Most royalty had servants who did all the menial tasks for them, Loki did, when he was back home. "Their cores are similar... I think they are related?"

"That is possible", Loki muttered and then remembered something. "The person who sold Ruth to me did say that her mother was princess Welea's sahali."

Ella looked at him in surprise. 

"So your Ruth and Tris' Ismid are hatch mates?" Ella asked and turned to look at the two sahali's that seemed to be chattering excitedly. Ella's sahali was standing a little further away from them, looking at the excited pair with it's one good eye, like it wasn't sure what to make of them. "Poor Cobalt is confused."

"That is... quite a coincidence", Tris said, raising his eyebrow.

"That it is", Loki answered quietly. He shook his head and sat down by one of the fires. The pregnant woman was there, smiling at him. Loki had learned that her name was Lorette, and she was traveling to the capital, since having two babies was very rare for an eldran and could potentially be dangerous. No one had commented on the fact that she was traveling alone. 

"Here, have some melberry juice", Lorette said, handing over a flask. Loki took a careful swig, and soon his mouth was filled with a sweet taste similar to the barries he had eaten at the wedding. So they were called melberry. He'd have to remember that. 

"This is delicious", he said, handing the flask back to Lorette. Tris sat down on the other side of her, Ella sitting next to him. No one else was at this particular bonfire, probably too nervous to join the prince's company. 

"Thank you, Lucan", Lorette said with a bright smile. She was very innocent looking. She had light gray horns that curled, straight brown hair hair and brown eyes. Her skin was very light and covered in freckles. Her tail was a muted gray with white ridges. All in all, she was very pretty and looked very naive and kind. "Would you like some melberry juice, sar-reium?"

"Lorette, please call me Tris", the prince answered as he held his hand out. Instead of just taking it like Loki knew he could, he waited until Lorette put it in his hand. He took a sip and smiled. "Mmm, Lucan was right, this is delicious."

Lorette blushed and smiled brightly. 

"If you say so, sar- Uh, Tris", she said with a shy voice. Was she just shy becuase this was her prince or did she find Tris attractive?

"Would you like some?" Lorette asked Ella who just smiled and shook her head. Tris gave the flask back and Lorette put it away. There were a few seconds of somewhat awkward silence until Loki decided to be merciful and break it.

"You said the story of the Rain Bringer was a prophecy?" Loki asked looking at Lorette.

"Oh, yes", Lorette said with a bright smile. "It is a very old prophecy, so the story has changed a lot along the years."

"I have heard another version", Ella spoke up. "In it, the spirit travels, falls in love and at their wedding it cries and brings the rain."

Tris laughed and bumped his shoulder against Ella's.

"Now that's just the hopeless romantic in you", he said teasingly. "Let me guess, grandma told you that version?"

"Maybe", Ella muttered with a pout on her face. Both Lorette and Loki chuckled at her expression.

"Knew it", Tris said with a victorious smile. "I have heard a version where the Rain Bringer is the one dying, and it cries and the rain comes. I think that is the only consistent part. Something happens so the Rain Bringer cries and it's tears are what brings the rain." 

Loki nodded slowly. 

"Of course, it could just be a story", Tris said shrugging. "Most prophecies are. Like how there was a prophecy that grandfather was supposed to meet some maiden from another realm, but that didn't happen."

"Oh I love the story of how king Wilras and queen Lyasea met", Lorette said with a dreamy sigh. 

"I do not believe I have heard this story", Loki said, chuckling at Tris' groan when Ella started to eagerly tell the story.

_______

_King Wilras ruled for a millenia without anyone by his side. There were many rumors about the ruler and his reluctance to marry, but in reality, he just didn't want to marry anyone who was after him for his throne alone._

_One day, he was reading letters sent from all over the kingdom, when one caught his attention. When asked later, he couldn't tell you what it was. That letter was just like the others, asking for help from the capital. The way the letter was written intrigued the king and he decided to go himself._

_He left his grandfather Yaseo to rule in his stead and traveled to the small village where the letter had come from. He disguised himself as a Sental and rode to the village._

_The village was plagued with bandits, that came from the mountains and raided their stocks when ever they felt like it. They had killed the town guards and anyone who tried to fight against them._

_When he arrived, the town's people were disappointed to see only one Sental to come to their rescue. These bandits were a nightmare and they did not believe that a single person could chase them away. They were angry, insulting the king and the capital that wouldn't take their problems seriously._

_That was, until one woman stepped forward._

_She was the most beautiful woman the king had ever seen. No lady or daughter of a lord compared to her._

_She spoke to the people, told them to have faith in their king. The king would not send just one man if he didn't believe that the man was strong enough to help them._

_Dubious, the town people decided to give the Sental a chance._

_So king Wilras traveled up the mountain, to the bandit lair._

_He returned two day later, covered in wounds, but triumphant._

_The town had no healer, so the woman who had spoken to the town's people took him and took care of him, unaware just who she was taking care of. He stayed with her, healing slowly without magic and got to know her._

_She was kind, but firm. She didn't allow him to move until she deemed it safe. She took care of him, a man who was a stranger to him, even though it cost her a lot. The town's people looked down on her, an unmarried woman having an unmarried man in his house._

_Still, she made king Wilras happy, until one day a group of Sentals rode into town in search of their king. Lord Yaseo had sent them, worried for his grandson after not hearing about him for a long time._

_So it was revealed to the town's people, that this stranger, this Sental that had saved them, was their king. When the king and the Sentals were departing, the whole town gathered to watch them leave. King Wilras saw the woman with them and when he saw her face, he knew he would not be able to live without her. So he got down from his sahali and asked her to marry him._

_And she said yes._  
____

"Tris, walk with me", Ella said when everyone was starting to settle down. Tris nodded and followed his sister towards a nearby grove of trees. Was this about the bad news?

Loki created an illusion of himself laying down on his travel mattress and transformed into one of those bird-like drakes that were flying around in the trees. He quickly flew to sit within a few of the other drakes, making himself invisible to them, alas they reacted to a stranger in their pack.

He could just use illusions to hide, but visible illusions would not be enough to fool Tris, so this had to do.

"-bout the bad news?" Tris was asking his sister. 

"Yeah", Ella answered, biting her lip. "The wiseman at the wedding, he saw something. He said that... Henre will die in a war. He couldn't tell when, Henre and Silva will have at least one child so it can not be too soon, but..."

"Sooner or later, we are going to war", Tris said quietly. "Did he see who we will fight?"

Ella shook her head and sighed.

"No, that was all he saw", Ella said rubbing her forehead. "I sent one of the Sentals ahead of us to tell grandfather. I thought it best not to tell anyone else."

Tris was nodding now and gestured for them to return to the camp.

Loki flew back to the camp and took the position of his illusion. A war? With the fire giants? Or with Asgard?

Oh norns, they couldn't make him choose between this realm and his home.

____

Loki woke up to Aven climbing on top of him. She seemed to be trying to lick his face, but kept sliding off of him.

"Oh you silly child", Loki said quietly, not wanting to wake up Lorette who was sleeping near him. "Let me sit up and I will give you your food."

Loki sat up, stretching his stiff limbs and pulled out a piece of meat from his pocket dimension. Aven was big enough now that Loki no longer had to cut the food into small pieces. She had started to sprout soft feathers all over her body now. Soon she would be big enough for loki to tie a piece of his seidr to her.

Afterwards he got himself something to eat as well and rubbed some of the oil the tamer had given him on Aven's horns, he took the weapon Tony had given him and walked away from the camp. Ruth and Ismid followed him, Aven sitting on top of Ruth's back.

"Do not come too close to me", he warned the drakes after he had walked far enough. "I am going to test this and do not want to hurt any of you."

Loki took a deep breath and aimed the weapon at a nearby rock. He channeled his magic to the big gem and immediately a green beam of pure magic shot out, incinerating the rock.

An exhilarated laugh escaped his lips. This was amazing. This weapon would let him use his powers without alerting anyone around him to just how powerful he was.

Taking another breath to calm himself, he channeled his magic again, this time to one of the smaller crystals. 

A rod as thick as Loki's thumb extended out of the flat end, growing in length until Loki stopped channeling his magic. If he was to put it on the ground, the weapon would reach a little over his waist now. It reminded Loki of a walking cane.

He channeled his magic to another crystal, and the weapon grew in length again. This time it wasn't just the rod, but the whole weapon. It curved slightly, growing until it was taller than Loki. Loki channeled his magic to the crytal next to the one he had been using, and the weapon started to shrink again. Loki stopped it when it was approximately the length of his arm.

He found another gem and channeled his magic to it. Silver blades extended around the green gem, pushing it out of it's golden cocoon.

"Oh Tony", Loki said quietly, admiring his new weapon.

Tony had made him a scepter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get what the weapon is now?
> 
> Author's notes:
> 
> \- Ismid's name: The etymology (behind the name for the metal Bismuth) is uncertain, but possibly comes from Arabic bi _ismid,_ meaning having the properties of antimony[3] or German words weisse masse or wismuth ("white mass"), translated in the mid-sixteenth century to New Latin bisemutum
> 
> \- Cobalt's name comes from the metal Cobalt. Cobalt is a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. Like nickel, cobalt in the Earth's crust is found only in chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. (pictures of it are pretty)
> 
> \- 'we picked the cracked crystal' is a saying, kind of like 'I drew the short straw'


	11. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this has taken this long. For that, the chapter is slightly longer than normally.
> 
> I know it sounds like excuses, but I have been really busy the last few months, traveling a lot and stuff (One day I will buy a laptop so I can write when I'm not at home) And after I came home I wasn't happy with the chapters I had written so I have completely re-written everything from this point on.
> 
> Still, I know I should have posted earlier.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has read, commented and waited for this despite how long it has taken. Now that summer is done, I should be able to write more.
> 
> As always, my husband is the one who makes this readable (Like seriously, if you'd read this unbetta'd, you'd think I'd never heard of grammar)
> 
>  
> 
> **WARNING: References to rape**

When Loki and the sahalis returned to the camp, everyone was packing up and getting ready to move again. 

"Oh, Lucan!" Tris greeted him with a smirk when they were close enough for the prince to sense them. "I thought you had stolen my sahali and ran away with her."

"Oh, perish the thought", Loki said with a laugh. "I walked away from the camp and Ismid and Ruth decided to follow me it seems."

Ismid chirped in answer as she walked over to her owner. 

"Oh you went for a walk without me, huh?" Tris asked his sahali in a cooing voice as he hoisted the harness on her back. Loki chuckled and went to saddle Ruth. Aven was being unhelpful as always, playing with the straps.

When he finally had Ruth saddled and he was sitting on her back with Aven in front of him, he saw Tris helping Lorette on to the cart. The children were being helped up by their parents.

"But daddy, I want to ride with you and Tasang", one of the boys whined to his father. The man laughed, his gentle voice bringing a smile to Loki's lips. 

"And how will you steer a sahali with your little feet", the man answered and tickled his son's foot playfully. The boy tried to keep his pout as he fought laughter. The man sobered and took a step back. "Be a good boy now, Darian. You can ride sahali once you are tall enough to see over one's back."

The boy, Darian, pouted for a while until his father walked away to a young man holding the rains of two sahalis. Once his father was away, he seemed to forget his sadness and joined the other children.

Loki shook his head and chuckled. That child should be glad he was able to express his opinions so openly. Most likely, he never would never appreciate such a simple thing.

__

When they started moving, Tris steered his sahali close to Lorette and the children again. loki frowned and let Ruth follow her sister.

"Is there a reason you stay near the cart?" Loki asked the prince. Tris licked his lips in a nervous manner and let out a pulse of magic.

"If we are attacked, the Sentals will protect everyone", he said quietly so that only Loki would hear him. "However... I am their main concern."

Loki nodded slowly. That made sense. No matter how many civilians were around, the soldiers would always put their future king first.

"Next to you is the safest place in this caravan", he concluded. Tris wanted to protect the children and Lorette. "That is... commendable."

Tris snorted and chuckled, seemingly believing different.

"It is the most I can do", he said with a shrug. He was talking slightly louder now. "Also, you and Ella are near me. I am assuming you know how to fight and I know Ella does."

"Do not discount yourself", Loki shot back. "You would not have those weapons if you did not know how to use them."

"Oh he knows how to use them", Ella decided to join the conversation. Loki was quite sure she only heard the last bit of their conversation.

"Oh you flatter me, my dear sister", Tris answered with a smirk and his hand over his heart.

"I have seen you fight, pri-... Tris", Lorette said from on top of the cart. If she could hear them, the eldran must have better hearing than Aesir. The children at least, were on the other side of the cart, playing amongst themselves.

Tris frowned and tilted his head. 

"It was a few years ago", Lorette confessed with a blush on her face. Oh, she definitely was attracted to the prince. Not that Loki faulted her. Tris was handsome and charming. "You were fighting with your uncles in one of those arena fights."

"A few years ago", Tris muttered, thinking. "Oh, please tell it was not the one where I lost to my mother?"

Lorette laughed and Tris groaned.

"Yes, Commander Nenadya won that tournament", Lorette said with a joyful grin.

Oh, of course. Adya was the future queen. That made her Tris and Ella's mother, Loki should have realized that. Lorette called her a commander, though, not princess or consort.

"I thought the Sentals were supposed to keep their identities secret", Loki said, getting everyone's attentions to him. Would it be a good or a bad thing to say she had ran into Adya? Loki decided to keep it to himself for now. "Why is it that everyone knows Commander Nenadya's identity?"

"Oh, that is because she is going to be the queen", Lorette answered as if that explained everything.

"When our parents got married, it was kind of impossible to keep her identity hidden", Tris elaborated. "But yes, normally the Sentals keep their identities hidden. It is very frowned upon for them to tell their identities to anyone who isn't their family. When they join, they even make new names for themselves."

That made sense. It did make Loki wonder if Tony was his friend's Sental name or his real name.

Tony.

Norns Loki missed that man. It was unreasonable. Truly, everyone else was far more gullible, but Tony wasn't so special. He was handsome, beautiful even, he was cunning, accepted Loki and his lies, he was fun to banter with but...

"Lucan, are you all right?" Tris asked. Loki blinked and turned to look at the man. Tris' blind eyes were looking directly at him, his head tilted. "Your heart started to beat faster and you seemed..."

"I was just thinking about some... thing", Loki said, biting his lip.

"Oh, left a sweetheart at home?" Lorette asked with a bright smile. Loki laughed and shook his head.

"No, there is no-one waiting for me at home", he told the woman with an apologetic smile. Lorette seemed like one of those people who saw grand fairy tales around every corner. Loki didn't quite understand people like that. To him, it was way too naive. Norns were never that kind.

"Well, maybe you will meet someone on your travels", Ella said with a small smile and Loki kept her gaze for a while before looking down, feigning shy. Ella had access to the palace, she would do.

Strangely, the thought made Loki feel sick.

"Why is it that you travel?" Tris asked with an amused tone. Loki opened his mouth to tell his lie of researching magic, but remembered that Tris would know it was a lie. He needed to say something closer to truth.

"I... I wanted to prove myself to my father", he said instead.

"I get that", Tris said nodding his head. For someone who couldn't see, he used a lot of visual responses. "How do you plan to do that?"

"I do not know yet", Loki answered honestly. "I plan to visit libraries for now and study. Next I am going to visit Red Water's library."

"The library there is pretty", Ella said with a smile. "I am not the type to read, but uncles Theo and Rian spend a lot of time there when they can. Aunt Lea goes there sometimes too."

"Yes, you seem like the type to spend more time in the practice grounds, Ella", Loki said with a charming smile, doing his best to make it sound like a compliment. Judging from how Ella shyly averted her gaze, she took it that way. Good.

"Oh that is Ella", Tris said with a smirk. "I think she would live in there if she was allowed."

Ella just crossed her hands and glared at her brother.

"And what is it that you do with your time, Tris?" Lorette asked Tris with a smile.

"I take care of abandoned drakes", Tris said with a shrug. "I know, not very princely of me but-"

"No, I disagree", Lorette said vehemently, shaking her head. Then she realized she had just interrupted the prince and blushed bright crimson. Tris just smiled and waited for her to continue, making Loki wonder if he could tell when people blushed or if he even knew what blushing was. "I mean... you take care of drakes who have no-one else to take care of them. I think that means that you will be a kind king, that you will take care of your people."

Lorette was firmly looking away and pulling at her hair nervously. 

"Thank you, Lorette", Tris said, sounding honest and a little surprised. Loki turned to look the other way, not wanting to see this. It felt... private and too raw.

Ella inhaled sharply, looking at the sky like she wanted to say something. She turned to look at Loki and grimaced. Loki chuckled at that, causing Ella to start laughing and Tris to glare at them. Ella wasn't all that bad.

"Someone please tell a story or something", Ella said laughing and holding on to her saddle so she wouldn't fall. 

"I could sing?" Lorette suggested.

_______

_When the sun ended it's journey,_

_left behind from her sisters,_

_was the last Sunray of the day._

_Dusk was creeping on the grounds,_

_The Sunray with its golden wings,_

_was just about to fly away from there._

_Only she saw a small goblin, coming towards her,_

_it had just climbed out of it's cave._

_You see, a goblin cannot ever before nightfall_

_live upon the surface of the ground._

_They beheld each others gazes,_

_the goblin felt in his chest_

_a warm feeling, never felt before._

_He said: "You burn my eyes,_

_yet I have never in my life_

_seen anything so wonderful!_

_It doesn't matter that your radiance blinds me._

_it is easy to wander in the dark._

_Come with me, and I will show you the way to my cave_

_And take you as my bride!"_

_But the Sunray answered: "Dear goblin,_

_The darkness will take my life_

_and I do not wish for death._

_I have to leave immediately,_

_unless I fly to the sun soon,_

_I cannot live a moment more!"_

_And so left the beautiful Sunray, but still,_

_as the goblin walks alone,_

_he wonders why some here are children of light_

_and the others love the night._

____

With the caravan they stopped two times a day. Loki spent the breaks how he spent the journey itself: with Tris, Ella and Lorette, learning more about them.

Tris was kind, quick to help anyone who needed help, but underneath seemed to posses the same joy for mischief Loki had. He played small tricks on Ella, like moving her water skin when she wasn't looking or switching her food to something she disliked.

Ella tried to be like her mother, stoic and serious, but seemed to relax too much when it was just them. She acted more like a guard to a prince whenever someone else approach them. She had a bright laugh and when Lorette spoke of weddings and celebrations, she confessed that she loved to dance.

Lorette was still a bit of a mystery. She was joyful and energetic at all times, but she seemed to be hiding some wounds that cut deep. She said that she planned to stay in the capital even after the babies were born. When asked if she'd miss anyone in her home town, her face turned sour. Tris had quickly lightened the mood again, so Loki didn't find what had happened to her, what drove her from home. 

Loki also learned a little of the children traveling in the cart. Danar was going to a smaller town near Red Water with his father and brother. Apparently their father had thought a change of scenery would be good for the children after their mother died in a mining accident. The other two children were siblings, Borik, the boy was younger and kept asking Danar and his sister Saruse a million questions, marveling at all the things the older children 'knew'. Loki truly doubted that dragons cried gems. Then again, this was a weird realm.

___________

That night they camped at a small town called Ditwerth. The town was carved inside a mountain and only had a few buildings. The biggest building was the tavern, right next to the ceremonial clearing. Loki was informed that the all the townspeople worked at the tavern and it was the only source of income for the whole town. A few people still had to camp outside, which actually made Loki feel better about staying in the town. It's gates were nowhere near as sturdy looking as the bigger cities, so Loki was glad there was some frontier defenses outside. If nothing else, if they were attacked, the ones camping outside would slow the enemies down and give the people inside time to prepare. For some reason that thought didn't sit all that well with Loki. Norns, he was truly starting to care for these creatures.

The tavern had a large mess hall in the first floor and their company gathered there to eat some freshly cooked food.

"Oh, this is amazing", a man sitting next to Loki exclaimed as he was slurping down his soup. He was very short, barely reaching Loki's elbow and he had a red beard and a bald head. His small straight horns were a golden color and he had a blue tail with no ridges. He reminded Loki of the dwarves Nidavellir, and Loki wondered if he was a half breed. Could the eldran procreate with the rest of the races in the nine realms? "Have you ever been to Red Water, boy?"

It took Loki a few seconds to realize the man was talking to him. After all, he was older than most Eldran he had met so far. At least that was what he assumed. Never the less, being called a boy by these people didn't sound correct. 

"I have not", Loki answered the man's gruff question. "This will be my first time."

"Oh you'll love it", the man exclaimed, smirking brightly. "The food there is the best around, it is!"

Loki chuckled and fed a piece of his meat to Aven. 

"I mean, this is good, I ain't saying anything against it", the man explained, pointing at the food. "But nothing compares to the food at the Taike Inn. Visit there if you have time."

"I... shall", Loki said slowly. The man's familiarity was a bit off putting. 

"I thought you were not allowed in Taike anymore, Irel", Tris said from the other side of the table. So he knew this dwarf-like eldun? Irel scoffed and waved his hand dismissively.

"Oh, that... She forgave me after a while", Irel explained smirking and turning towards Loki again. "The owner of the inn, Ariama, didn't like a poem I wrote of her. Women are so high maintanance sometimes, you know."

"I think it was just because your poem was absolutely horrible", Tris said with a smile on his face. Irel let out a bellowing laugh, slapping his leg. 

Ella shook her head and sighed.

"Irel here is one of the best jewelers in the whole kingdom", Tris decided to introduce them. "Irel, meet Lucan, a traveler from a small town."

Loki felt like there was an implied 'or at least that's what he says.' at the end of that sentence.

"Honored to meet you, Luke", Irel said and reached out to grab Loki's horns and bring their foreheads together in a soft touch. It was... certainly surprising. This... person threw Loki off and made him feel uncomfortable.

"I apologize for him. He doesn't have any manners", Ella said with a grimace. Irel just laughed again. Loki shook his head and smiled reassuringly at Ella. He was used to much worse thanks to Thor and his goons, he could bite his tongue and smile politely.

"Oh, don't you worry about my manners, Mani", Irel said with a smirk. Mani? 

"You were in Mournstead for the wedding then?" Loki asked Irel.

"Aye, I made the wedding banglets for the happy couple", Irel answered, speaking more calmly now. "Not something I normally would do, but when a highly lord asks for you specifically you ain't got no choice, huh?"

"You... you do not like lords?" Loki asked, glancing at Tris and Ella. 

"Oh, them are fine", Irel said, turning his plate to get the rest of his soup in his mouth. Thankfully he swallowed before he continued. "I don't like them lords who think they can just order me to do work I don't normally do. Sure, I've made wedding banglets for friends, but that's completely different, if you ask me."

"Ah, I see", Loki said.

"Well, I'll see you guys in the morn, right?" Irel said getting up. "One of them cart drivers challenged me to a game of Gemmers."

It was oddly silent after his depart. Loki soon bid farewell to his companions and headed to his room.  
___

"Good night, my child", Loki told Aven as he laid in his bed, staring at the room. He felt oddly homesick. This place was so strange, so unlike anything he'd ever visited before. 

The people in this place behaved so strangely. And Tony...

Loki wasn't sure what he'd do if he ever did meet Tony again. Could he pursue a relationship with the other man?

And if a war was breaking out, could he stay and help, or stay out of it?

Maybe he should visit home, speak to his mother. His mother always listened him and gave counsel.

With his mind set, Loki got up.

"Aven, you must stay here, I will be back shortly", Loki told the hasit. She yipped and curled in the feet of the bed, already falling asleep. "

Loki shed his disguise, returning to his Aesir self and reached for Yggdrasil. He had to teleport outside of the town to reach a branch and when there, he saw a field of flowers. He picked a purple and yellow one, making sure to get it's roots and all, and pulled on the Yggdrasil to travel home.

He appeared in his own bed chambers and a quick look out the window told him it was late afternoon. He changed his attire to better suit a prince of Asgard and made his way to the flower garden, hoping his mother would be there.

The garden in the heart of the palace was one of Loki's favorite places, the other being the library. The garden was full of rare and colorful flowers, some of which Loki had brought his mother from his travels to other realms. The queen was not there at the moment though.

Loki planted the flower by some yellow ones he had brought his mother from Vanaheim and sat on the marble bench. He shed all of the magic cloaking him from Heimdall and waited. It didn't take long for his mother to arrive, after sensing his magic.

"Loki, my child", queen Frigga greeted him and held her arms out to embrace her son. "How have your travels been, my dear boy?"

They both sat down and Loki squeezed his mother's hand gently.

"My travels have been good, mother", he answered with a smile. 

"However..?"

She knew him so well.

"I came for your advise", Loki admitted. His mother nodded minutely and waited for him to continue. "Mother I... I find myself... Attached."

"Attached?" Frigga repeated. "To a person?"

"In a way", Loki said, looking at the flowers. "But it is more than that. We are gods, we should not worry ourselves with the other realms beyond ensuring their safety, but I find myself favoring a group over another and I do not..."

"These, groups, they are at war?" Frigga asked with an unreadable expression. She always did this, found out all of the details before she gave any advice.

"No, not yet at least, but there is unrest and a seer has seen visions of war", Loki answered looking at his mother.

"Loki, you are a man, you are not a child", Frigga answered slowly, like she was picking her words carefully. "Even though your father does not take part in skirmishes within realms, that does not mean you can not. If you have friends you care for, you should do everything in your power to protect them. Friends are a rare thing, my child. If you do not help them, it might eat away at you."

"Thank you, mother", Loki said with a smile.

"Just promise me, that you will be careful and you won't do anything too drastic", Frigga asked, almost pleaded. "I have seen visions and I do not know which of them are to come true but... Please, be careful."

"I promise, I will be careful", Loki said with a grave expression. He knew it was no use asking his mother what she had seen, she never told anyone of her visions. "Now, I must return."

"Please visit me again."

"I will, mother."

______

When Loki returned to his room, Aven was sitting by the door, turning her head from side to side.

"What is wrong, my child?" he asked quietly, very aware that it was early morning. He raised his disguise of an eldun again and sneaked towards the door. 

"-him hanged for what he did!" someone yelled somewhere down the corridor.

"We will do everything we can to find who did this", Tris' voice answered. Loki frowned and toed Aven further from the door so he could open it enough to see down the hall.

Tris was standing by the stairs with one of the Sentals next to him, facing a man Loki had earlier seen serving food for them. The man looked furious and distraught. There were unshed tears in his eyes and his fists were balled up so thight the color had escaped his fingers.

"How could someone do this", the man said a little quieter now.

"I do not know, sar", Tris said with a sympathetic voice. His magic touched Loki, and behind his back, out of the man's sight, he beckoned Loki to come closer. Loki slipped through the door, whispering for Aven to wait.

The man turned his angry eyes towards Loki when the Aesir came closer. 

"Sar, this is Lucan, my friend", Tris introduced Loki to the man. "He will be helping me. Lucan, this is Luroh. His daughter was... attacked."

"Attacked!", Luroh yelled angrily. "My daughter was violated! And how do you know it wasn't this... this 'friend' of yours'!"

Violated? Surely he didn't mean... No, it couldn't be anything else. This man's daughter had been raped.

The Sental took a step closer, attempting to step in front of the man who was yelling at his prince, but Tris stopped him with his hand. Tris let out a little sigh and turned to look at Loki.

"Lucan, did you touch this man's daughter?" Tris asked Loki, with a serious look on his face. His magic surrounded Loki, staying longer than normal.

"No", Loki answered with a frown. The Aesir said that he had no morals, but he would never do something like that. "I have done no such thing."

The magic dissipated and Tris smiled at him.

"Good", he said, turning back to the inn worker. "I know Lucan is not lying. If it is okay with you, Lucan will be assisting me. I might need someone who can... see."

Luroh slowly looked from Loki to Tris.

"Fine", he muttered. "Just catch the man who did this to my daughter."

Tris nodded and moved downstairs past the man. Loki followed him, while the Sental stayed with the man. Once they were in the dining hall, Tris let out another wave of magic and turned to look at Loki.

"We are alone", the prince said and sighed. "Ella is with the girl right now. We thought it best if no man approaches her right now..."

That was probably for the best. The poor girl must be frightened.

"How is she?" Loki asked, glancing at the stairs. He could hear Lorah still talking loudly and the Sental trying to calm him down.

"I am not sure", Tris confessed and sat at one of the tables. "The father said that a healer is taking care of her now."

"Good", Loki said and sat next to Tris. Somehow it didn't surprise him that he cared for a girl he'd never met. "How are you going to find who did this?"

"Not sure yet", Tris said with a frown on his face. "Ella will be back soon and she will tell us what the girl said."

"But you can tell if people are lying", Loki said and turned to look at the stairs when he heard footsteps. The man and the Sental came down, and with barely a glance in their directions, walked out the door. "Can you not just use your magic?"

Tris hummed and rubbed the bracelet on his right wrist.

"It is not that simple", he answered after a while. "We have close to seventy people with us, half of them male, and there is also the people who live in this town, other people passing by... It is too many, even if I was to give you the other bracelet, we would tire ourselves by the tenth person."

Loki remembered how overwhelming it was to continually use the bracelet.

"Also, I can not really tell if anyone is lying, not really", Tris confessed. "I can feel a person's heartbeat, their breathing, magic... All of those shift when most people lie, but people would get nervous just because they are being questioned."

That was true. Loki had seen how nervous some people got in Tris' presence. 

"Ella is here", Tris said suddenly and stood up. Right after he said that, the door opened and Ella stepped in. The woman walked to the tavern's unoccupied counter and took a bottle of liquid, throwing a few gems on the table as payment.

"How can people be so horrible?" she asked them as she uncorked the bottle and took a sip. She walked closer and sat on one of the tables, putting her legs on the bench. Well... this was a new side of her.

"How is she?" Tris asked gently, moving to sit next to his sister.

"Physically, she'll be fine in time", Ella answered and passed the bottle to Tris who put it away from Ella's reach. She spoke much faster than normally and forgot her formal way of speaking. "She took a bad hit to her head, one of her horns was cracked and... she was bleeding. A lot. You know... down there."

Tris nodded but said nothing. Loki moved to sit on the other side of Ella.

"Mentally, she... she just stared at the wall at first. She didn't say anything", Ella said and stopped to take a breath. Loki put a calming hand on her shoulder and she leaned into the touch. "Then her mother came in and she started weeping. She wept in her arms like a child. She told us that she was on her way back home when someone jumped her from behind. He told her to be quiet if she wanted to live and he... he forced her on the ground. When she tried to screem for help he hit her head on the ground. Oh norns, she's barely an adult, only fifty... how could someone..."

Loki glanced at Tris and pulled Ella into an embrace. A small smile covered Tris' lips.

"She couldn't see him", Ella muttered. She was shaking from anger, like she wanted to go and find the man who did this herself. Right now she was content on burying her face on the crook of Loki's neck as the Aesir ran a soothing hand up and down her back.

"So we have no clues?" Tris asked quietly. 

"All she knew was that he had a low voice and he was most likely taller than her", Ella said and straightened. She cast a thankful smile at Loki and jumped down the table. She looked much calmer now. "We do not know if he is traveling with us or not, but she said it was not anyone from her town."

"And we must continue in the morning", Tris said with a sigh. "We will leave one of the Sentals here, in case the... man is not in our party."

Two of the Sentals who traveled with them came downstairs and bowed to Tris.

"Everyone is safe and counted for inside the tavern", one of them said.

"Good, thank you", Tris said and stepped down from the table. "How many were awake?"

"Quite a few, sar-reium", the same Sental answered. Loki was a bit surprised that she met Tris' eyes. "Most on the second floor heard the commotion in the hallway."

"I figured so", Tris said and turned to look at the door. The door opened and three more Sentals came in. "Did you find everyone outside?"

The Sentals bowed and one of them stepped forward.

"Yes sar-reium", he said. "According to the guards, they haven't seen anyone enter or exit the town after sunset. We can take you to the allyway now."

Tris nodded and moved to follow the three Sentals. Ella followed him and since Tris had asked for Loki's help, the liesmith followed also.

"Does something like this happen often?" Loki asked Ella once he reached her outside. The bodyguard shook her head. The streets were earily empty, except for a guard or two standing around on some corners. The tension that blanketed the town palpable.

"No, not often. It happens sometimes, mostly in bigger cities", she answered and looked at Loki with a frown. "Have you ever seen something like... this."

"No", Loki answered honestly. "I've heard of people getting raped, but I've never been in close vicinity to it."

Ella shruddered at the word and turned to look away. Hmm... was it rude to say something like that out loud or was it personal preference to Ella to not say it. Tris hadn't said it either. Still, for something like this to happen right now... It proved that no realm was perfect, no race was perfect. Loki had thought the Eldran a good race, a race he could fit in with. But norns were cruel and would never allow a whole race to be good.

Loki wasn't quite ready for what they saw when they arrived at the alleyway. It smelled like blood and semen and smoke. On the ground was a pile of mostly burned cloth, and a strip of light brown fabric was the only thing that survived. Next to the pile was a pool of blood, the biggest one of the many. Too much blood. loki frowned and turned to look at Ella who was resolutely looking away.

"Did he use a blade?" he asked the woman.

"Yes he... She said she tried to keep her legs together", Ella said weakly and turned to look at the blood.

Loki turned back to the alleyway to see Tris crouching by the burned fabric. The Aesir could feel his magic scanning their surroundings. One of the Sentals had walked to the other end, following the blood.

"He used a crystal to make the fire", Tris said after a while. "I can smell it and I feel no magic here. There however."

Tris moved closer to the blood and leaned down. 

"I can sense something", he muttered mostly to himself as his hand hovered over the blood. "I am not sure if it is magic or an herb... no, must be magic, I should be able to smell herbs. It must have blocked her magic, made her weaker so she could not fight. He burned both of their clothes. He left that way-" Tris pointed at the end of the alleyway where Loki, Ella and two of the Sentals were standing. "-she crawled the opposite way until someone found her."

"He is cruel", Loki said, giving his own assessment. "He did not care what happened to her after he left, so her life had no value to him. He got rid of evidence, but he must have another set of clothes stashed away somewhere. Someone would have noticed him if he walked around naked. This was no chance attack, he planned this. Whether she was the target or he attacked the first woman he saw, I do not know. He must be comfortable with doing this and has most likely done this before. In that case, I am afraid he will do it again."

Everyone was staring at Loki now, even the Sentals.

"I... I am good with assessing people", Loki explained. Tris smiled and nodded, standing up. "He will be hard to catch, he will appear normal."

"Yes, but we will catch him", Tris said with a sure voice.

"We will", Loki agreed even though he wasn't so sure.

"We need to observe the men traveling with us. The person who did this will be in high alert", Tris said as he walked towards Loki and Ella, somehow managing to dodge all the blood on the ground. "If you are right and he has done this before... Well, let's just hope that he will mess up. Soon."

Tris walked down the street back towards the tavern, stopping a few steps away at a few rocks that were leaning against the wall of a building.

"His clothes were here", Tris said, pointing at the rocks. Loki walked forward to look for any visual evidence, but all he saw was the stones.

"There is nothing", Loki said with a sigh. Tris hummed and started walking towards the tavern again. "He went towards the tavern. As a distraction or is he one of-"

Ella and Loki followed the prince, glancing at each other. Tris' voice sounded frustrated. One of the Sentals followed them, two stayed behind.

"Tris, even if he is one of the people traveling with us, it isn't your fault", Ella said, touching his brothers arm gently.

"I know", Tris said with a deep sigh. "Still, I should be able to protect people around me. I'm supposed to be their king one day."

Ella slowed down a little, so that she was walking next to Loki.

"He is quick to blame himself", Ella said in a quiet voice, even though Loki was sure Tris could still hear them. The streets were still empty, except for the stone faced guards.

When they reached the tavern, Tris lifted his hand to tell the Sental to stop and walked into the stables. At first Loki was unsure if he should follow, but when he glanced at Ella, she just shrugged and walked inside after Tris.

Tris was standing at the end of the tavern, silently rotating his bracelet around his left wrist.

"Tris?" Ella asked and took a step closer to Tris.

All at once the man came alive, and with surprising speed, he had Loki pinned against one of the pen doors. He was growling, his hand squeezing Loki's throat.

"Tris!" Ella yelled and tried to pull his brother off of the Aesier, but stepped back when Tris growled again. Loki raised his hands as calmly as he could, trying to pacify Tris despite the man squeezing him so hard it was hard to breath and his magic was suffocating Loki. Drawing his magic made Loki dizzy, but he refused to stay helpless under the other man's grasp. Faintly Loki could hear all the sahalis around them growling and chirping in fear.

"Tell me you had nothing to do with this, _Lucan_ ", Tris spit out. The way he said Loki's false name made it sound venomous. "Tell me I haven't been dining with a monster!"

He slammed Loki's back against the door again, knocking the Aesir's breath out.

"I know you've lied to us!" Tris growled. "I know you've lied about your name, You wont tell us your home, why?"

From the corner of his eye, Loki saw Ruth lunging forward, but before she could reach them, A white mass rammed in to her side, causing her to crash to the wall. Ruth roared in warning, but Ismid stood sure between her hatch mate and their owners. The loud noises seemed to bring Ella back to the situation and she tried to reason with her brother.

"Tris! Stop this!" she yelled, but the prince did not listen. "This is not the place for this."

"He has lied about everything, Ella!" Tris countered. "Why would he lie if-"

Loki had enough. He pushed Tris' magic away from around him surprisingly easily. While Tris' seidr was large, he couldn't match the raw magic that Loki possessed.

With a crackle of magic, Tris was pushed away and with a pained groan he crashed on the floor. Before anyone could move, Loki had the scepter pointed at Tris' throat.

"Do not lay your hands on me, eldun", Loki said with an angry snarl. He knew he was breaking his cover, but he couldn't help it. He would not stand to be called _that_. "And never, call me a monster again."

"Lucan", Ella said weakly. Her crossbow was aimed at Loki's heart, and even though her voice wavered, her aim was steady. "What are you?"

With an annoyed sigh, Loki let his disguise drop. When the horns and the tail was gone, he summoned his armor, glad to be protected with the black and green leather and gold plating again.

"I am Loki Odinson, prince of Asgard, son of the All-Father, god of discord and fire", Loki said with a serious look on his face. "I consider you a friend Tris and I like your kingdom, so do not give me a reason start a war between our realms."

Ella slowly lowered her weapon and took a step closer.

"Okay, we need to all calm down", she said slowly, as if talking to frightened animals. "Lucan... I mean, Loki... do you wish us any harm?"

Loki regarded Ella for a moment and then shook his head.

"No, I do not", he said and withdrew his weapon. He let it slide back to it's resting form and offered Tris a hand to help him up. Tris didn't react, just observed Loki with his unseeing eyes.

"Tris", Ella warned her brother. She was being surprisingly diplomatic. "You know Lu- Loki well enough. You know he did not do this. You are lashing out and you can not afford to do that. Especially not now."

"I... Yes, I know", Tris said and took Loki's offered hand. "Are you... Are you really a prince of Asgard?"

"I am", Loki said, carefully regarding Tris' face. The Eldran prince seemed to keep his face carefully stoic.

"Are you here for the Eye, your highness?" Tris asked and Loki could feel his magic strong in the air again. Loki was slightly surprised to be addressed as his highness instead of sar-reium.

"I am", Loki said, seeing no reason to lie. Tris wasn't stupid. He knew the answer to his question.

"Your brother came for it", Tris said with a calculated voice. "He came to our city gates, demanded it, killed hundreds of our soldiers. At no point was he willing to discuss it with us."

Loki ground his teeth together, damn Thor and his foolishness!

"Would you be willing to sit down with us and discuss the situation?"

"Yes", Loki said with all honesty, although he was confused. Why would the eldran be willing to give up their greatest weapon? "I prefer to avoid bloodshed."

"Good, put up your disguise again", Tris said and walked to the sahalis that were still facing each other and growling lowly. "I am afraid that the situation in Valkama is... difficult. You will have to continue to pretend to be Lucan until we reach Red Water."

"'Tis fine", Loki said and changed his form to his disguise. He was a bit sad to lose his armor again.

"We will discuss more once we are moving again, we do not have time now." Tris said and walked out with Ismid right behind him. He seemed so... distant now, but Loki understood. He had lied to the man, no-one would accept that. No-one except Tony.

"So... You're a prince, huh?" Ella asked with a slight amusement in his voice. Loki turned to face her with an apologetic smile. At least now he wouldn't have to make her his. "To be honest, I am mad at you, but... Tris is already angry with you so, I guess you need allies, right?"

"Thank you, Ella", Loki said and he was surprised at how honest he sounded. Ella took a step closer and rested her hand on Loki's arm.

"Just know, that if you ever hurt my brother, I will not hesitate to kill you, wars between realms be damned", she said with a serious look in her eyes. Ofcourse, the threat was useless, Ella would not even be able to scratch Loki, but it was... endearing. "Alright, let's head back in. We are probably moving out soon."

With that, Ella was gone, leaving Loki alone with the sahalis in the stables. Ruth walked towards him and gently pressed her head against Loki's shoulder.

"It will be fine, my love", Loki told the drake and ran his fingers through the feathers on top of Ruths head. He was glad she was unharmed. "I am sorry you had to fight your hatch mate."  
_________

Loki did not have time to sleep that night. As soon as he returned to Aven in his room, he heard the calls for breakfast.

Tiredly he dragged himself and Aven back down to the mess hall and sat down at one of the tables. He was soon joined by his usual companions, though nobody talked. It seemed the word had spread about the attack on the girl and everyone was tense.

When they gathered outside again, Tris told Ella to ride with Loretta and the children and gestured for Loki to ride with him. They were both silent until they were all moving. Tris and Loki stayed at the back of the company, behind them only one of the Sentals who Tris didn't seem to mind being able to overhear them.

"It is not as simple as us handing over the Eye to you", Tris said with a sigh. "At the wedding, the wiseman had a vision."

"About a war, yes", Loki interrupted Tris. "I might have spied on you. If you cooperate with me, your war will not be with Asgard."

"Yes. That is a war we do not wish for", Tris said with a sigh. "Lucan, we do not want the eye anymore. I can not speak for the king, but I am sure we can all come to an agreement."

Loki noted that Tris still used his false name.

"However, like I said, it is not as simple as handing it over to you", Tris continued with a serious look on his face. "There is the threat of war and... something else. I can not discuss it, the king will have to, but you will understand once we reach Red Water."

"The Eye is in Red Water?" Loki asked hopefully. "The king has it?"

"Yes", Tris said, but there was something off about his expression. He seemed... sad.

After that, they joined Ella and Lorette, who both seemed quiet. Lorette was absently running her hand over her belly.

"Are you alright, Lorette?" Tris asked the woman quietly, his voice full of warmth. 

"It's true right? I heard others talking about it. That a girl from the tavern was..." Lorette didn't finish the sentence, there were tears forming in her eyes. "I don't want... Not again..."

Again.

Tris stood up from his saddle, and jumped to the cart with surprising ease. 

"Lorette", he said to the woman who seemed surprised by the prince's antics. "I promise you, I will protect you. I will do everything in my power to make sure nobody here gets hurt."

Lorette nodded slowly and then wiped her tears as Tris moved to sit next to him. Slowly the man wrapped on arm around pregnant woman's back.

"So", Ella said, drawing Loki's attention from the pair. "Where did you get you weapon, Lucan?"

Right, the scepter...

"A smith named Tony gave it to me", Loki answered and drew our the scepter. Tris hummed and raised his free hand.

"May I see it?" the prince asked. Loki threw the weapon to him, careful so he wouldn't hit Lorette. Tris cought it easily and inspected it, keeping it away fom Lorette. "I believe I recognize this. Tony was working on it when I once visited his shop. I did not know he had finished it."

"You know Tony?" Loki asked with a frown as he caught the scepter when it was thrown back at him. Tris nodded with a smile. 

"Yes, Tony is the one who made my bracelets. Well, him and Irel", Tris said and twirled his bracelets again.

Irel... Was Irel the 'El' that Tony had spoken of.

"Why did Tony give it to you?" Ella asked with a frown.

"I... I do not know for sure", Loki answered, feeling nervous. What could he answer, that him and Tony were... well, Loki wasn't even sure what they were. "We traveled together for a while. He did tell me he liked giving gifts."

"Well, yes, but...", Ella stopped and stared at Loki intensly. "He gives gifts all the time, but he has worked on that weapon for years, he wouldn't just give it to... anyone..."

Lorette made a happy sound and a bright smile appeared on her face. Loki sighed but said nothing. If it made Lorette happy...

"So... You and Tony", Ella said with a teasing smile. Loki was sure there was something else under her joviality. Was she hurt? "What exactly is your relationship?"

"Whatever it was, it is in the past", Loki said politically. And I am a prince. It did not matter.

Ella just hummed and pursed her lips. Loki sighed and turned his gaze forward.

The rest of the afternoon was quiet. There were no stories or singing and Loki spent his time by watching the other people traveling with them. Everyone was solemn, but nobody seemed suspicious.

______________

In the afternoon, they stopped to eat. Everyone was instructed to stay in the clearing where they stopped and not wander in to the forest. If they had to relieve themselves, they should go in groups, no-one should go alone.

They were just finishing their dinner when they heard a bloodcurdling scream from the forest.

In seconds everyone with any authority sprinted towards the forest while two of the Sentals stayed to keep order and stop the civilians from entering the forest.

Loki ran with Tris on his side, Ella on the other side of his brother.

They found three women and two men yelling to get their attention. They were deep in the forest, way too deep. No-one should have ventured this far.

"Sharina disappeared", one of them started to explain between her sobs. "We came back to the camp and she wasn't there even though she said she would wait."

"We came to look for her", another one of the women continued. She was clearly shaken, but calmer than her friend. "She's over there."

Tris thanked them and moved past the group of friends. He rounded the trees the woman had pointed and stopped in his tracks.

Loki came around him to find the body of a young woman, mangled and covered in blood, carelessly thrown against some rocks. 

She was naked, her clothes torn apart. Her eyes were open, staring deadly at the sky.

"I'm going to kill him", Tris muttered next Loki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors notes:
> 
> \- The song about the goblin and the Sunray is a really popular children's song we always sang in school https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzheWNd65x4 
> 
> \- Gemmers is a Muspel game, played with two players and includes gems of different colors, used similarly to playing cards. I will explain rules more clearly if it ever becomes necessary in the fic.
> 
> Please point out to me if I missed something that should be referenced here.
> 
> EDIT:  
> I almost forgot!!  
> Here is a friend of mine's (@l_iitu on twitter) vision of Tris:  
> https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CjjqK8SUkAMjzYT.jpg
> 
> She doesn't actually read this so she had to purely work off of my description, but I think he looks awesome!  
> (Also, sorry I don't know how to link directly to the work on her twitter, I suck at links)


End file.
